The different faces of Barrett's family...

This past weekend we took Barrett back up I-35 to visit with both sides of our family. My brother, Ryan, spent the summer in Arkansas as a camp counselor so this was his first time to meet his nephew. Grant's parents flew in from DC to visit for the weekend and we took Barrett to a big family cook-out at Grant's uncle's house. Barrett met several of his great aunts, uncles, and cousins. These are just some of the faces that make up a huge circle of love in Barrett's life...

Uncle Ryan meets Barrett for the first time


Mommy, Uncle Ryan, and Aunt Cookie (Erin)


Aunt Caitlin


Great Aunt Brenda (not sure yet how she feels about the "Great" part)


Aunt Caitlin and her very cool nephew


Great Aunt Connie and Barrett had a long talk while Grandpa looked on in the background


Uncle Rick who Grant nicknamed "The Closer"-this guy can get any baby to sleep


I realize this is a picture of Barrett, himself, but it was just too sweet to pass up


Barrett and his Sug who loves to sing old hymns to him


And of course...Barrett and Mommy

Sleepy Bear

Barrett is a good sleeper, but takes quite a while to wake up. There is a great deal of stretching, grunting, and face-making that goes into actually getting up from a nap.

Mom's Turn in the Water!

Last Monday I had my follow-up OB appointment and got the all-clear to resume my normal life. During my pregnancy, my doctor was my biggest supporter of being in the pool and attributed my easy nine months to so much time spent in the water. He knew I was chomping at the bit to get back into the pool and seemed as excited as I was when he said it was safe for me to get back to life as a fish.

That Monday night, I hopped in the bathtub with Barrett and began training my baby fish. I spent time letting him float on his back and got him comfortable submerging his whole body under the water while I held his head. He seemed so relaxed and would even look up and smile at me while he kicked his teeny feet. We practiced my new favorite mommy-and-me moment every night and I think it really paid off at his swim class this past Friday.

Instead of completing 20 minutes of class like last week, we were able to do the entire 30 because Barrett was much more relaxed and engaged. He was so mellow, in fact, that he actually slept the last 10 minutes of class but I'm counting it a success! We are one class closer to the Olympics!

Barrett's First Swim Lesson

Here's hoping Barrett loves the water as much as Mommy! (Some of these pictures might suggest otherwise, but I'd like to think those angry faces were just gas and not anger at being shoved into a pool at 4 weeks.)

Barrett's First Fourth of July

Last weekend, Grant & I packed up ourselves, two dogs, and one baby for our first trip up I-35 since before Barrett was born. At just shy of 4 weeks old, we decided to take the little man on his first roadtrip to Sug and G-Dad's house (my parents) in DFW. I felt pretty overwhelmed with the amount of STUFF that accompanied our little nine-pounder so I started packing four days before we even left. By the time we hit the road, Grant was driving and had Tex as his co-pilot. I was in the backseat with Maggie and Barrett. In the bed, we had a stroller and a huge tupperware carton full of baby necessities, dog goodies, and bags for Mom & Dad. G-Dad laughed when he saw our haul...I'm sure we looked like we were coming to visit for the month instead of the weekend.

Barrett did amazingly well as our newest little traveler. He loves to look around when he's in the truck, but can't fight off sleep for long. He slept almost the entire way to DFW. We stopped long enough to change a poopy diaper and found that the truck's middle console serves as the perfect on-the-road changing table.

We spent most of the weekend passing Barrett from one proud family member to the next and showed him off to some of Grant's buddies who were beating down the door to see Tiny Q. Anthony, one of Grant's best friends, walked in the house and straight over to Barrett. Immediately upon holding him, I heard Tony whisper, "I love you!" and then I watched him sink very slowly into a rocking chair as he made goo-goo eyes at the first baby in their group of friends. That goes down as one of the sweetest early-Barrett moments.

Grant and I did, at one point, decide to venture out with Barrett to a restaurant in Fort Worth. His aunt and uncle were celebrating their 20th anniversary and we wanted to be part of such a big celebration. Barrett did not. We were there no more than 5 minutes and I was already whisking a screaming Barrett away to feed him (note that I'd fed him right before going in). After coming back to the table with a baby who was in a bad mood from having milk come out of his nose, Grant took him outside to try to calm him down. While I tried to visit with Grant's family, I slugged a much-needed coffee and noticed that Grant had been in the middle of slugging some much-needed wine. Our night was not going the way we envisioned. After trying to bring a still-unhappy Barrett back into the restaurant, taking him back out to the truck to change his diaper, and trying once more to visit at the table while Bear screamed his protest, his defeated parents loaded up and headed home. If I had a picture of the inside of that truck as we left the restaurant, it would show two zombie-like, sweaty parents (it was hot inside and outside of the restaurant and scrambling around with an angry baby left us both soaked) and a howling Barrett stuffed in his car-seat, much to his dismay. Lesson learned. We'll keep the kid home until he's 10.

Here are some happier Barrett moments from the trip...

1 month!

Happy 1-month to my baby boy! Even with endless diaper changes and some sleepless nights, the time has flown by with our new addition. Barrett seems to be changing every day from that first night in the hospital. He is a very vocal baby and loves to growl and baaa like a sheep. He does it when he eats and sleeps the most. Half the time, you can't tell if he's actually awake or asleep just based on his noises because he's SO loud!

Barrett loves to pick up his head and have a look around when he's being burped or propped up on our shoulder. But forget about it during tummy-time. That kid will go face-down and cry until we rescue him.

He now follows toys and will turn his head side to side to get a good look at whatever we have. He also likes to roll to his side when we lay him down. He would prefer to be a side-sleeper if we didn't swaddle him.

My favorite is that every day Barrett is now holding eye-contact longer and giving us BIG SMILES! (Of course none for the camera yet.) He smiles for me if I'm not taking too long to feed him (he's not too patient when it comes to meal-time), he smiles for his dad, and he's smiled for his Sug, G-Dad, and Aunt Cookie (my family). He is the most smiley after he's eaten and when he's laying on his play-mat. Call me biased, but he has the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. I could look at it all day!

And here's the opposite of Smiley Barrett!


















And a look back at our boy 1 month ago. Happy 1-month, Barrett Ryan! You are loved beyond words!