HO, HO, HO!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Here are a few pictures of Barrett over the holiday!

Hands up! - Bear has started crusing the walls; we can't keep him out of anything now!

I'm still not sure about this guy...

I am not digging into the presents, I don't know what you are talking about...

Check me out in my fancy digs and new car!
We all had a wonderful Christmas, it was so fun to watch Barrett open his presents, although he was much more interested in the wrappings - particularly the bows.

latest pictures

Yes, I do like to dress my son in sweaters. This is another sweater I made a long time ago. I think it brings out the blue in his eyes.

I am so happy that I have some snacks! My mom is starving me! Can't you tell?!?

Cousin Bella, Aunt Jen, and Uncle Ben came by last night and Aunt Jen gave Barrett his first haircut. Doesn't he look handsome? He sat very still in his highchair for most of the haircut, then we had to bribe him with food to stay still so she could finish it.

And here he is eating his lunch. He has become quite the picky eater. His favorite foods are meat sticks, cheese, yogurt, and snacks. He also likes bananas and peaches, but is not so fond of the veggies right now. But I keep putting 'em on his tray hoping he'll eat them.

We hope everyone is geared up for Christmas, we are looking forward to celebrating Barrett's first. Will post some pictures of him playing with boxes after the holidays. Merry Christmas everyone!

Almost Done!

If you are interested in seeing my final project for my Cultural Studies class, Click Here. I changed the format from a Blog to a Wiki. Just make sure you click on "Sidebar" on the right side of the page so you can navigate to the other pages. The page that comes up is the Introduction; there are two more sections to read. You can get the gist of the argument without viewing the videos as well.

I am so glad this semester is coming to an end! I have pretty much finished my papers for my Writing Center class, am just waiting for some feedback before I do my final revisions. I just have an at home final on Thursday and then I am done! YEAH! Four whole weeks to relax and play with Barrett. I am hoping next semester is a little easier - although it probably won't be "easier" just different. I am only taking one class, but I also have to do my final Portfolio (it is the equivalent of a thesis, but meant for people not going on to Doctorate degrees), which is a lot of work on its own. I will also be continuing my work in the Writing Center as well as doing a Writing Fellowship for a Basic Writing Composition course - I will work solely with that class as their writing tutor. Should be fun and I am looking forward to it! Am looking even more forward to May when I graduate!

Will post some new pictures of Bear this week. Maybe I can figure out how to upload some video that we took of him with our new camcorder.

10 months and getting into trouble!

I think I have been in Blog blah... not because I don't want to blog but because I have been so swamped with school work. The semester doesn't end until the 20th for me and I am just exhausted. Going to school with a baby is very difficult, for anyone considering finishing school and having a baby, I recommend finishing school first. Not that I would ever trade Barrett or being a mom for school, it is just a lot easier to do the school thing without a baby to care for.

Well, enough of that, here are some pictures of Barrett fromt the last few weeks. If you look real close you can see his new teeth in some of these pics. (If you click on the picture and open it in a new window you may be able to zoom in).

Best friends

You can see his teeth in this one, but they had just popped out so they aren't too visible yet.

We had to put our Christmas tree in "jail' so Barrett and Chuie wouldn't get into it.

Barrett has pulled himself to a stand once. I think I was overly excited because he won't do it now, but he does love to stand up and walk around furniture. He takes off like he can walk without help when you hold his hands, it is kind of scary cause he will let go. You should hear how excited he gets, it is really cute. He so wants to be a big boy!

See, even "jail" can't keep me away fromt he tree. (Another good one to zoom in on to see his teeth).

I had to get him this Grinch toy at Hallmark, I think he likes it.

When I saw this picture I cracked up; it is one thing to get the dog looking funny, but look at the expression on Barrett's face.

JoAnn sent us home with the walker last week and Barrett is in seventh heaven. He absolutely loves that thing... of course, this has also led to him getting into my plants and the bookshelf. Look at the pile under the walker!

PLEASE HELP WITH PROJECT SURVEY

I just posted 5 survey questions to the LEFT. If you could please answer them honestly it would really help me with my school project. Your answers are anonymous so please do be honest. The link to the video is HERE . I didn't want to put the video in since it is controversial. THANK YOU SO MUCH! Have a Happy Turkey Day!

ON THE LAST QUESTION: Does the video of Flavor of Love confirm or contradict your opinion of African-American women? YES = CONFIRM, NO = CONTRADICT.

I tried to change it but it won't let me.... THANKS!

Mariachi Man and other things

I just thought this was a super cute picture. Barrett went to the doctor last week for his 9 month check, he is a very happy boy.

He weighed in at 25.8 lbs and he his 31 3/4 inches long. He is 97% for head and weight and off the charts in height.

Bear has starting sleeping face down on his hands, you can see the imprints on his face from his fingers - no, I am not beating him.

Barrett also really likes his snacks, he is very into feeding himself.

Here is a picture of Bear playing guitar with his Daddy. Maybe we have a little musician on our hands too!

By the way, as I mentioned in my post below, my cultural study is of a sexual nature. If you find this offensive, DO NOT look at it. I would appreciate Constructive Feedback as this is a school assignment in which I will be receiving a grade. I realize that some of you will find the videos offensive; however, you can read the text without looking at the videos if you are interested in helping me with the assignment, if not, that is fine too. Thanks.

Finally!

Well, Barrett finally cut his first tooth. It only took him 9 months, 1 week, and 4 days, but it is finally here. We have yet to see the little bugger, but my Grandma babysat last night and pointed out that she felt something sharp in his mouth and that she thought he had cut a tooth; of course, we were totally clueless :) I felt in his mouth this morning and sure enough, there is a tooth there. He won't let me see it though, I guess he is keeping it to himself for now; but nonetheless, it is there!

Hopefully, he will show off those pearly whites soon so I can snap a picture of him, but until then we will just have to go with feeling it.

Last night we had a lovely dinner to celebrate Deana, JoAnn and I's birthdays this month. It was really fun... good to see everyone! And happy birthday to the ladies!

Happy Birthday to my best friend for over TWENTY years, Trina! Can't believe we have known each other that long. Love ya lots!

Flavor of Love Cultural Study

Just in case anyone is interested in my school studies, here is my blog for cultural studies class on the Flavor of Love (click on the hypertext). I warn you that it is a bit sexual so I wouldn't view it with your kids. I would love some feedback, though (but please post to this blog, not the Flavor of Love one or you can email me). It is a work in progress. Not quite done yet... let me know what you think.

P.S. I have yet to figure out what this has to do with English composition - my professor says we are writing and I guess that is his justification.

Commando

Barrett is quite good at commando crawling. He can get up on his knees, but he is much more efficient at the commando crawl. Now, he is wanting to stand up all the time too.

He loves Chuie. check out this video (just ignore the background noises).

Pumpkin Patch

Barrett is trying to feed himself now - he makes quite the mess.

We went to the pumpkin patch today. I have to say I was a bit disappointed. I had expected this bountiful patch of pumpkins, but most of them were rotten.

I staged some pictures though, so I guess everything turned out okay. Will have to go earlier next year before they are all picked over.

Halloween Party

Andrea had a Halloween party at her place last weekend... Barrett's first. Here is in one of his many disguises...

We thought Winnie the Pooh was an appropriate costume for a boy named Bear.

Grandpa and the babies...

Some of the cousins... we couldn't get them all together at one time.

This week in pictures

Here are a few pictures from the last week or so...

My Grandma made these little moccasins for Bear and now that it is cold enough I just had to put them on him. We dressed him up to hang out with Owen, but of course by the time I picked him up he was in a new outfit cause he is such a messy eater.

Speaking of eating, someone really does not like to have his face cleaned. This is the "here comes the evil washcloth" face.

Kimball calls this the puffy sweater outfit. When I was pregnant I made this outfit for him. I think he looks pretty cute. Don't worry Dad, it won't fit him for long - I do have more handmade sweaters though ; )

By the way, the results of my poll are in... according to poll goers the dirll incident was Kimball's fault. But in all fairness, and to save my marriage, I think we were equally at fault. I am known to be accident prone and shoudl have paid more attention to my surroundings, however, Kimball did leave the drill in an awkward position. We are equally at fault. Babe, you happy now : )

Battle of the Drill - This is kind of gross

We had a little emergency this morning... I got stabbed by a drill. That is my inner right leg. We had to make a little trip to Immediate Care for a tetanus shot and some horse pill antibiotics. Thanks Dad, for coming to my rescue, yet again... but this time it wasn't my fault : )

This is the culprit, see that drill bit? That whole thing went through my leg. I am completely numb under the wound and the top of the wound is already swollen and starting to bruise. It went in at an upward angle.

This is how Kimball left the drill in the kitchen. Now, who's fault is this? I would say Kimball's.

I was just cleaning up and turned around to be impaled (maybe that is a bit of an exagerration) with the drill. I actually didn't realize what had happened until I felt the blood on my foot. And man, there was a lot of blood. I am very grateful that my dad came and helped to clean up the mess before we went to the clinic... it was pretty gross. It looked like someone was murdered in my kitchen. I am just so grateful it was me and not Barrett... I hope Kimball has learned his lesson about putting his dangerous toys away.

Doc says I will be fine. Just have to ice my leg, take these huge pills and watch for infection. It pierced the muscle so my leg is going to be very, very sore. Not to mention my arm, where I got the tetanus shot. At least we have modern medicine :)

Change

Bear's favorite place to hang out is under the coffee table. He especially enjoys this place when Chuie visits him. If I could just get a little closer...
so determined.
Well, I guess I will just chew on this book instead.
I love this picture! Notice the plant in the background? Well that is gone, someone likes to pull on the leaves... was tired of fighting with him about it.
I broke down and decided I needed a change. Actually, I was tired of Bear pulling my hair and I wanted something with a little less maintenance.
Here is my "before": (excuse the self portraits)

and my "after".

Kimball's reaction: "Well, it's short." Thanks Babe.