A visit from the family

A few weeks ago (okay, more like a month ago) we had some very special visitors!! Grammy, Pops, Dustin and Nance came to Tennessee for a visit. This was especially exciting since we haven't seen them in several months, except for our FaceTime chats.

They drove all night from Texas and made it to see us for a a long weekend. We didn't do much that was exciting, but we sure enjoyed being together! Here are a few pics to remember their visit. After driving all night, they were a little tired (to say the least.) I had planned to work that day, but Barrett was a little sick (more to come on the sickness issue later), so I got permission to work from home. It worked out nicely because everyone slept so I could get things accomplished!

Barrett was SO excited and loved all of the attention and all of the new playmates that stayed for a few days.

Are they really here?

Storytime with Pops - melt my heart!!

Grammy - wake up!! I said wake up!!

Aaaah, that's better!

Show me your cute face!

Hi guys!

Aunt Nance is the BEST!

Silly, silly boy!

One of my favorite shots of all time!

Dancing in the Belk bathroom - explanation to come

Eat that graham cracker!

Let me check you out, Pops

Our other big activity was assembing a vinyl tree in Barrett's room that I have had since before he was born! It was supposed to go in the nursery over a year ago, but we just haven't had the time to do it ourselves. Thankfully, Dustin and Nancy saved the day!! They are such troopers and did a fantastic job!

My hired hands for the day

Expert tree builders

Finished product!

Saying goodnight...

So, that's it for the exciting pictures. Just being together was the most fun of all. Can't wait to see you again soon!

Fifteen Months

Fifteen Months? Is this real? You need to slow down sweet boy!! We want to just enjoy every little minute with you, so don't grow so fast okay?

This month has been another wonderful whirlwind. Here are a few stats for your fifteenth month:

- You weigh 21 lb.12oz. (15%) and are 30.25" tall (25%) - you are growing so big!
- You wear a size 4 diaper, size 12-18 month clothing, and a size 5 shoe
- You are still sleeping great - almost every night is from 8 p.m. - 6:30 a.m., unless you are teething or have a cold. We have had a few nights that you just needed some extra love, but we will take it. :)
- Naptime is pretty regular with a short nap in the morning and a longer one hour nap in the afternoon
- You are still loving to eat - usually oatmeal for breakfast, blueberries any time of day, fruit, meatballs, and the Gerber meat sticks (gross) are your favorites
- You have been drinking milk a little more and seem to like it better this month!
- You can sign "more", "all done", and "eat" - Mommy needs to learn more signs to teach you!
- Books are still some of your favorite things. Llama Llama has returned as a favorite, along with Happy Valentine's Day Mouse! You try to convince us to read many, many books at bedtime - to prolong going to sleep. :)
- A new friend has emerged this month - your "sassy" or pacifier. I'm not sure where the affection for this little thing has come from, but I sure hope it is short lived.
- You have added the words oatmeal "oat-ma" and lots of others to your vocab this month, a really fun new trick is saying "Di-di-di-di" or ding-ding-ding for your firetruck. As in "Hurry hurry drive the firetruck, ding, ding, ding, ding ding!" (That's a song for those of you who don't know)
- You can now identify most of your body parts - eyes, ears, nose, mouth, belly, toes
- You still LOVE dogs - Doc and Daisy, Raider (Grammy and Pops' dog) and Pearl (Logan's dog)
- Elmo is one of your favorites! You call him "Melmo" and love to watch him on the iPad, iPhone or the TV. You definitely like to choose which Elmo video that you want and will quickly let us know if we have chosen the wrong one. :) It's good that you are a man who knows what he wants.
- You say "HOT" and run to the oven when it beeps
- Talking on the phone (and saying hello), playing with balls, and drawing and writing are some of your favorite activities. It is SO much fun to watch you grow!!
- Your teachers at school are some of your favorite people. You also love your little friends - Ellie Moss, Maddie, Jon Michael, Zach, Caitlyn, and Maddie!

I didn't get a good monthly picture this time, so I'll just have to use one of my others.... Happy 15 MONTHS!!