Our Trip to the Radio

Last week, Nana, Paw, and I took the boys to the rodeo, or radio as Barrett calls it.

Barrett was so excited to see everything, and he was just as excited to wear his new cowboy boots.

There were so many fun things to do, and Barrett loved it all!

Barrett loved seeing all of the animals, especially the cows. I don't know why the cows were so exciting considering he can see them anytime at Nana and Paw's house.

He was just as happy with the dressed up cow as he was the real ones.


Fisher, on the other hand, wasn't too thrilled when Paw took him to meet the moo moo.

Fisher was much more comfortable near the real cows.

After seeing all the cows, pigs, roosters, chicks hatching, rabbits, and a baby kangaroo, Barrett was ready to ride a horse.

Barrett loved every second of his pony ride. He would pet the pony's mane and tell him he was doing a good job. Normally, Barrett wants me to take a picture then leave him alone, but he kept bugging me to "take another picture" of him on the pony!

Barrett also loved playing in the barrel that the clowns hide in during the bull riding.

It looks like Barrett is too busy flirting with a cute girl in the front row to try and help the cowboy who is flying off the bull. I guess he doesn't have much of a future as a rodeo clown.

Fisher even enjoyed getting in the barrel- with a little help from Paw who is hiding below!

After all the activities in the livestock show, we headed to the carnival.

Fisher and Barrett rode the pink elephant ride with mommy.

Barrett and Nana rode the carousel. Barrett waved to me everytime he went by.

Mommy and Barrett rode the Ferris wheel. Barrett thought it was funny how little the pink elephants looked from way up in the sky.

Mommy and Barrett spun a whole lot on this dragon ride thing. (Mommy did NOT like this ride.)

Paw even got in on the fun. He rode this giant slide with Barrett.

Barrett liked the whole carnival, but there was a clear favorite ride that he rode over and over again. If you ask him about the rodeo, he'll tell you about the best thing there...

Barrett keeps asking if we can go back to see the pink elephants. Daddy is planning on taking him this weekend, and I think I know what their first activity will be!

Old Video

I completely forgot to upload this video when I took it about a month ago, but it's too cute not to show.

This is Fisher walking when he was first figuring it out. He really liked walking on his knees better than on his feet, so when we would try and get him to walk, that is usually what he would do. He was just as proud of walking on his knees as he was walking on his feet.

Of course, since it's been a month, he is now walking without being quite so awkward!

Mom was Right??

When I was in high school, I usually didn't make the best choices when it came to friends. My mom pretty much had to deal with the fact that she really didn't have control over who I hung out with. I was friends with the good kids, but I was also friends with the bad ones too.

You never really knew who I would hang out with because I was pretty much plugged into EVERY group. I had no click.


There was one "group" my mom really disliked...the long haired boys. Now, at the time, I didn't get why having long hair meant you were up to no good, but now, I understand.

Fisher has a buddy. We'll call him Will. Will has long hair. It's not long like Axl Rose, it's more like Willy Wonka long (not the new Johnny Depp one, the original Willy).

Will came over last week to play while his mom went to the doctor, and you won't believe what he taught my innocent little angel.


I was going to take pictures of the friends playing, and when I returned from getting my camera, this is what I found.


It's bad enough he was drinking, but he peer pressured Fisher into it too with this fun little "cheers" game.






It wasn't long until they were both drinking from Barrett's shooting game bottles. (Yea, my kid has a gun game- get over it.)


In a matter of moments they were both obviously intoxicated. I mean look at Fisher here, and Will is trying to sneak out by climbing out the window!



If all that wasn't bad enough, look what that long-haired Will talked Fisher into after all those drinks...



Mom was right.

Long hair = Bad.

Killing Time

Doug has been working late every night the past two weeks, and every night, I get more and more desperate for ways to entertain the boys.

Barrett has been really difficult without his Daddy time in the evenings, and one of the things he has been missing is playing in the tub with his dad.

I convinced him I could be more fun than Daddy, so we added bubble bath to the tub and turned the jets on.

Barrett was laughing and screaming so loud. He was having a ball playing in the millions of bubbles.

When I got out of the tub, he kept turning the jets back on which made more and more bubbles. At one point, he started to panic because they were getting over his head- when he was standing up!

I had to scoop bubbles out and put them in the shower. Once we got them to a manageable amount again, he was happy.

When I was putting him to bed, he asked me if Daddy was still at work. When I told him, "yes," he said, "can you show him my bubbles when he comes home?"

I guess I didn't distract him as well as I thought.

No One to Blame

I hate when things happen, and I have no one to blame but me.

Barrett wanted to color today. He insisted that he used markers.

I have no fight left in me because Doug has been working until at least 8 every night this week.

I let him color with markers.

I didn't force him to sit in the high chair. (Refer to reason above.)

While he was coloring on a tv tray in front of the tv, I noticed that Fisher stunk.

I went to Fisher's room to change his diaper and paused while I considered taking the markers.

It was then I made the fatal mistake.

I didn't get the markers from him. I thought I'd be quick.

Fisher's diaper wasn't the problem. It was the poop all over his pants and shirt.

As I was cleaning the HUGE mess, Barrett came in with marker all over his legs.

I reminded them that we only color on paper, and his response was, "oops," as he ran out of the room.

Honestly, I was elbow deep in poo so I didn't really worry about his blue legs.

After Fisher and I were clean, I came into the living room, but I couldn't find Barrett.

I saw the paper and markers sitting on the tray.

I called to him, but he said he was in time out.

When I asked why, he just said, "I'm sorry. I will only color on paper."

It was then that I noticed the couch with it's blue squiggles ALL over the cushion.

I couldn't even get mad. I had to fight letting him see me laugh. After all, I really could only blame myself.

Fisher's Party

Fisher's birthday party was so much fun even though the weather did not cooperate at all!

We were lucky that lots of friends and family braved the potential tornados and came to the party.

All the kids had fun, and even though we did not have any organized games, the kids seemed to love making laps around Nana's house.

Their running game became really fun when they decided to add bunches of balloons the their laps. I have never seen balloons be so much entertainment!


Even though Morgan and Barrett seemed to have the most fun with the balloons, Fisher liked them a lot too.

After we had all eaten way too many of Doug's yummy fajitas, it was time for Fisher to have his cake.

My friend, Michelle, made his cakes, and she did an amazing job for my little monkey man!

His personal little cake was the cutest banana!

I would post the pictures of him covered in the cake he smashed everywhere, but it didn't happen like that.

He was just like Barrett. He looked at the cake and waited for us to help him eat it. Once we gave him a fork, he ate the cake and loved it, but there was no mess at all.

He really just liked everyone staring at him. He just kept looking at everyone and grinning. I guess being the second child he never really is the center of everyone's attention.

Although, after the party was over, I put him back in the high chair and let him eat his cake. That round was a whole different story.

Fisher loved all of his presents, but he definitely had a couple favorites.

He loved his chair just like his brother's that Kristin gave him. He was trying to sit in it before I could even get it unwrapped all the way.

He also liked playing with the monkey rolling backpack that his cousin's Will and LeeAnn gave him. He thinks pushing the handle up and down is so funny.

There was a clear favorite toy. His cousin Austin picked it out just for Fisher.


He has been playing on his firetruck every moment that his brother isn't taking it from him. Mater, Barrett's favorite toy from his first birthday, has somehow become a favorite again now that Fisher has a toy like it.

Overall, Fisher's party was perfect. Little Monkey even slept all night that night!

Happy Birthday Fisher!

Happy First Birthday, Little Monkey!

(Excuse the boo boo. Fisher pulled my camera down on his head the other night.)

Fisher had a great birthday party today. I'll post more pictures and details later when I am not exhausted.

Valentine's

I'll write more later about Barrett's Valentine's with all his girlfriends, but both boys are screaming at me right now.

(If you click on the card, you can see the images blown up.)

How Do You Like Your Eggs?

Most Saturday mornings, Doug makes french toast for breakfast. Barrett has always liked helping him stir the eggs and dip the bread, but a few months ago, Doug taught him something I had no idea a two year old could master.

(Notice who messes up! It's not Barrett. Oh, and excuse the booger comment. Barrett is booger obsessed.)

Seriously, should a two year old be able to crack eggs?

PJ Day

Last Friday, Barrett had a dilemma.

Ms. Leslie his teacher on Tuesdays and Thursdays had told him that he needed to wear his jammies to school on Friday. He was so excited about wearing jammies to school, and he told EVERYONE about it.

On Friday morning, we got him dressed in the jammies (and slippers) he chose.

As we were driving to school, I asked if he was excited to see Ms. Jeanette and Ms.Sheri, his Friday teachers.

He immediately started screaming, "No!"

After I calmed him down, I asked him why he didn't want to go to school. He explained that he wanted to go to Ms. Leslie's class in his jammies.

I spent the majority of drive convincing him that PJ day was only in Ms. Sheri's class, so if he wanted to go to Ms. Leslie's we'd have to go home and change.

As I again said, "If you want to go to Ms. Leslie's, we'll have to take off your cute jammies and get new clothes at home."

His response was not what I expected.

In his most "junior high attitude" voice, he said, "Well then , U- turn!"

So much for the reverse psychology crap.

Luckily, once we got to school and he saw his friends in jammies, he was ready to play.

Here he is with his two favorite girls.



He talks about these two all the time. It is so sweet that he has little best friends at school.

Even Fisher had fun in Barrett's class while I took pictures of the kids!

He's Out

Gotta love when the doctor says, "Give him Benadryl every 6 hours."

Barrett NEVER falls asleep while he is watching his shows, but apparently the insane anounts of benadryl he is taking for this crazy hives/rash thing he has were stronger than his love of Diego.

He had some sort of reaction to something, but we don't know what it was. He is doing a lot better now, and the rash is almost completely gone.

Does that mean I can't give him a little dose every now and then? ;)

Fisher's Favorite

Fisher has a definite favorite toy. Here is a video of him playing with it back at the beginning of January. I just love listening to him laugh and get all excited.

Barrett Has an Idea

One of Barrett's new things is telling me he, "has an idea." Usually, the idea is that I give him candy, play in the playroom, or we watch Diego, but yesterday, he was really thinking.

The weather here has been horrible lately, and yesterday the sun appeared for the first time in a week. We had to go to Walmart (which I dreaded doing on a Saturday with both boys), so as we were driving, Barrett and I were talking about it finally being sunny.

When we got to Walmart, I had to drive around a while because there was NO parking. Apparently everyone else needed stuff too.

As I drove around, Barrett asked me, "Mommy, why aren't you parking?"

I explained to him that there were no spots, so he started looking too.

I heard him in the back commenting on there being lots of cars when he got all excited and said, "Mommy, I have an idea!"

I asked him what is was, and here is his plan...

"We can ask Jesus to make it rain because nobody shops when it is raining."

I love that his first thought is to turn to Jesus.

I don't know that Jesus would make it rain so I could park, but I am pretty sure He heard Barrett.

As I headed down yet another aisle, I woman waved at us and then pointed to her car in the very front row.

While I was getting Barrett out of the car, he said, "Hey, we don't need the rain now."

As we walked in, I couldn't help but wonder if he was telling me we didn't need rain or if he was telling Jesus.

Four Eyes

You know how some people look really good in glasses...

Barrett is not one of those people.





He thought he looked so good. :)

Another Day in Paradise

I just read a post that my friend had written about feeling bipolar because she's now a stay at home mom and in a matter of seconds she goes from loving it and feeling blessed to wondering why she stays home. So, to make Karen feel better, here is a recap of yesterday in my life.

January 17th

midnight

I am in Fisher's room rocking him after he has screamed and cried for no apparent reason. He falls asleep, and instead of throwing him back in bed immediately, I take the time to look at him sleeping. I LOVE my little man.

12:45

I crawl back in bed next to my sick, snoring husband. (I do not look at him and think about how much I love him while he sleeps.)

1:30

Barrett is screaming for his Daddy. Daddy is sick. Mommy gets up. All he wants is a sip of milk. As I leave his room, he tells me he loves me. I'm a little mad I'm up, but he is so sweet.

2:10

Crying? Who is crying? I cover my head with the pillow.

2:20
Ok, I can't ignore it anymore. Fisher is awake again. I make a bottle and head to his room. He is standing in the crib which is never a good sign in the middle of the night. He is WIDE awake. It doesn't take me long to realize that he's crying because his bed is wet. There is pee everywhere. When I change his diaper, it is soaked. How can a kid pee that much in two hours? I change the sheets and mattress pad while mumbling words kids shouldn't hear. I stop to be thankful Fisher can't talk. Fisher is screaming the whole time, but somehow Doug is able to sleep through it all. Since he is sick, I'm not too bitter. I rock Fisher to sleep again. I do not pause to think about how much I love him.

3:15

I crawl almost crying back into bed.

4:00

Barrett is screaming for Daddy. I kick Doug and tell him Barrett needs him. Luckily for him, he gets up without saying anything.

5:00

The alarm goes off. Seven minutes later, it goes off again. I tell Doug he has to get up or sleep in because I hate the alarm.

5:30

Doug makes so much noise getting ready that I really want to yell at him. I'm too tired.

5:45

Doug comes and not only says goodbye, but he thanks me for taking care of the boys all night. I decide not to yell at him for waking me up again.

6:00

Barrett is screaming. I am so afraid he'll wake Fisher up, I run to get him. I step on one of those STUPID alphabet fridge letters. I yell a bad word. When I get in Barrett's room, he asks me if I said, "Shit." I'm too tired to lie. I apologize for using a bad word, and I take him into my room. I tell him we'll snuggle.

6:15

Barrett is back asleep. I actually enjoy watching him for a few minutes. Just as I start to fall asleep, Barrett kicks me in the face. I give up and get out of bed.

6:45

I already have laundry folded and the dishwasher emptied. Barrett is packed for school, and the diaper bag is ready to go.

7:00

Barrett gets up. He is very demanding. We watch Diego. He wants the one with the dinosaurs. I have seen this episode so many times I want to die. Barrett tells me not to answer the questions. I answer them louder. He tells me to leave the room. If I had only known that would work....

7:45

I am "dressed" for the day, and Fisher is up.

8:00

Barrett has a massive poop. I will not go into details.

8:30

I am done cleaning. Yes, it took 30 minutes.

8:40

I argue with Barrett about what he's wearing to school. He does not want to wear pants. He does not care that it is 40 degrees outside. I let him go out in a diaper. He decides pants are ok. I throw Fisher in his carrier in his jammies, and we load up and leave.

8:50

I forgot Barrett's nap mat. U-turn.

9:15

I walk Barrett into school, tell him I love him, and leave as fast as I can.

9:15-12

I look everywhere for invitations for Fisher's first birthday. I already found ones I love that are too expensive. Fisher is not happy about getting in and out of the car over and over again. He screams constantly. After driving all over the world and spending a million dollars in gas, I go buy the ones I really want.

12

We go home so Fisher can run around. Fisher just wants to be held. I hold Fisher while trying to get anything done. Nothing gets accomplished. Fisher is still not happy.

1:15

Fisher finally wants to get down and play. It's time to leave because I have a meeting at church. I realize he's still in his jammies. Oh-well.

1:45

I meet with a lady that irritates me. She makes me madder. It's church, so I bite my tongue. (My tongue still hurts.)

2:15

I get Barrett from his room. Barrett is mad at me because some other mom put a note in her daughter's lunch, and he did not get a note from me. Seriously? As we load up the car, he is still unhappy with me. I give him a piece of candy. He's not mad anymore.

2:30

We go to the grocery store. It takes about 10 seconds to realize that Barrett did not get a good nap at Mother's Day Out. Fisher is also napless. We need groceries. I'm screwed.

A woman in the baking aisle tries to talk to Barrett. He tells her to go away. I apologize, but she gives me a dirty look anyway. I giggle because it was funny.

Barrett throws a tomato on the floor. It makes a mess. I have him get down and help me clean it up. He cries the entire time, but I am proud of myself for making him clean it up.

Barrett throws another tomato. No one sees. We leave the mess. I'm too tired to be a good role model.

I decide that we have enough, and I go to check out.

Barrett has a melt down about M&Ms. He does not get them. He did not earn them. The checker tells me where the M&Ms are. I tell her we don't need them. She tells me again where I can find them. Did she not hear me? I don't care if everyone around me is willing to buy them, we're not getting them.

3:30

We get home from the store. Barrett has another meltdown because we got home 5 minutes too late to see the big kids get off the school bus.

3:40

The kids, groceries, all the other crap, and I make it into the house.

3:41

I call the neighbor to see if her daughter can play. She says yes! Barrett is happy. They even want him to come over there. Woo Hoo!

4:00

Barrett is at the front door. Sydney has ballet to go to. He is not happy.

Both boys are unhappy. We go into the playroom. I want to cry too. Why in the world am I staying home when I could be working?

4:10

Both boys seem happy. I run to check email. While I am on the computer, I check local school districts for job openings. There is a position I would like. Before I can start applying, Fisher is screaming.

Fisher has a busted lip. Barrett tells me he hit him. There is blood on the carpet. I want wood floors.

4:20-5:30

Barrett goes to time out over and over again. Fisher is crying. I am trying to make dinner. I call Doug to see how close he is to home. He's still at work.

I cry.

6:00

Barrett is happy in his chair with markers. Fisher is occupied watching Mickey Mouse and chewing on things. I am getting dinner made. This mommy thing is easy.

6:20

Fisher wants to be held, Barrett wants something that he doesn't even know what it is, and I burn the meat.

I put Fisher in his bed, Barrett in the playroom, and I hide for a few minutes to regroup.

6:30

I collect the kids again. It is still not pleasant. Gretchen calls and laughing says, "You should hear what your house sounds like over the phone!" If I could slap through the phone, I would.

6:35

Sydney comes back to play. She amuses both boys. I get laundry put away, dinner finished, the kitchen clean, and toys a little more organized. Doug gets home and it looks like I have it all together.

7:00

We eat dinner. Fisher eats a ton. Barrett eats two fish sticks. I clean up and tell Doug I need time alone.

I spend 10 minutes in the tub before I hear screaming. It doesn't stop. I get out of the tub to find Barrett in time out and Fisher upset. Doug says it's under control.

8:15

We attempt putting Fisher to bed because he is so cranky. I realize he's still in the same jammies, but I don't care at this point. Barrett is watching Diego. We decide that Fisher is not tired, so Doug brings him back into the living room. He projectile vomits ALL over the place. I go to start cleaning, and he pukes more and more and more. Barrett is fascinated. I take off his jammies and put him in the tub. He's happy.

Doug takes a shower, I clean the carpet as best I can. (I really want wood floors.) I also clean the entertainment center and two chairs. Barrett keeps asking what the bad smell is. Fisher is crawling around happy.

9:30

We finish cleaning and put both boys in bed.

9:45

I crawl in bed just glad the day is over.

10:30

Fisher is crying... I pretend I don't hear him, and Doug gets up. :)


So, that is a day in my life.

I think every Mommy goes back and forth between loving being a parent and wondering why in the world they had kids. Even though there are times I wish I had my old freedom, I can't imagine not having them to love. My heart would just be empty without my little men.

I can say that because it is 7:50 in the morning and Barrett is playing on his own and Fisher is sleeping. :) I might feel differently in ten minutes.

Overwear?

Even though Barrett is not potty trained, he loves his big boy underwear.

He is very good at going on the potty, but even if I wanted to really make the effort to completely train him now, I can't find big boy underwear that fit his tiny little body.

So, he likes to wear his underwear over his diaper, and that is just fine with me.

Last night, Daddy had already gotten his diaper and pajama bottoms on when Barrett remembered that he needed underwear on. Daddy was too tired to take the pajamas off and put the undies on, so Daddy convinced Barrett that "overwear" is as good as "underwear".

It was all funny last night, but this morning when we were getting dressed for mother's day out, Barrett wanted to wear his overwear over his jeans. Luckily, I convinced him to wear them under his jeans but OVER his diaper, so they were still overwear.

In other Daddy news, he exposed Fisher to his powdered sugar donuts again yesterday. Fisher not only loved them, he wouldn't stop licking his lips afterwards.



Fisher was a sugared, happy boy!

Three Little Steps

Last night, Fisher took his first steps. His first three steps to be exact.

Barrett and I were playing on the floor, and Fisher was standing at the end table. All of the sudden, Fisher was standing next to me. It took me a moment to realize that he had walked over to us. I asked Barrett if he just saw Fisher walk, and he said, “Yep Mommy, Fisher walks now.”

I looked over at Fisher, and he was still just standing there without holding on to anything. He didn’t fall until I started clapping which made him clap too.

I don’t think he knew what he did that made me so excited because he kept standing up, clapping, and then falling because he clapped.

This morning we went to Gran Gran’s house, and he was holding on to her walker. When Barrett took out a toy Fisher wanted, Fisher let go of the walker, stood there for a few seconds, took two steps, stood a little longer, and then dropped to his knees to crawl across the room.

It’s only a matter of time…

Other Fisher news: We have two right side top teeth that have broken through this week. I know that teeth come in at any random order, but I am happy to finally have some on the right side. I be lying if I said that having only left side teeth didn’t worry me!

Christmas Part 2, Santa Came

When Barrett woke up Christmas morning, he was ready to see if Santa had come.

He had to wait to open the presents until Nana, Paw, and Ray came over, but he knew exactly which one he wanted to open first... the big one.

Once Nana was here and he had told her all about Santa eating the cookies and the reindeer eating all their food, we told him he could open whichever present from Santa he wanted.

He went right to the big present.

Once he got it torn a little, he peeked inside.

As he peeked inside, he started jumping and saying it was a "stampoline".

He's never been on a trampoline or around one, so we were surprised at his reaction. We knew he'd love it once he knew what it did, but we had no idea how excited he would be just by seeing it.

He climbed on it as soon as most the paper was off.

He started jumping on it like he'd been jumping for years.

I guess all the practice on our bed and the couch really helped out.

After he jumped for a few minutes, he remembered there were other presents too.

He chose to open the other big gift, and he again tore enough paper to peek inside. He seemed surprised to see a Diego big wheel, and he turned to tell me what it was.

He also told Nana that he got a bike just like hers. (No, Nana doesn't ride a big wheel, she has a Diego ride on thing at her house for Barrett.)

It took him a while to get all the paper off of the big wheel, but he kept working on it until it was done.

Santa also brought toys for Fisher, but he was more interested in Barrett's toys.

Even though Mommy and Daddy weren't exchanging gifts, Daddy still had a couple things from Santa. Here is Daddy showing Barrett the shirt Santa gave him.

Fisher really wasn't too into the opening of the gifts, but he did find two things on Christmas day that he really enjoyed...

The boys had a wonderful Christmas day with Doug's family being here in the morning and mine in the evening. By the end of the day, they were both exhausted, but they did manage to find the energy to jump a little more before they went to bed.