Friday, August 24, 2012

SURPRISE!



...weeeeeee'reee PREGNANT!

While completely a surprise, Bobby, Camden and I are totally thrilled. Baby Barrick #2 is on the way!

Despite the rumors, we did not get pregnant in Paris. However, less than a week after arriving back home from our trip of a lifetime, I went in for my yearly exam. When the doctor entered the room, she was beaming with a big "Congratulations!!" Having simply no idea what she was referring to, she further explained that I was pregnant.

Uhh... excuse me?!

So here we are... morning (which is actually all-day) sickness and exhaustion in full swing (much worse than I remember being with Camden), Baby #2 is about 12 weeks along, making his or her arrival pegged for March 9, 2013!

Bobby is taking myself and our little monkey to the beach for a week, where we can spend some quality time together, digging our toes in the sand, playing in the waves, and really enjoying our last summer as a family of three.

Au revoir!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

15 Months + Black Eyes

It is no secret that I have a tiny Monkey on my hands. Camden is slight in figure if you've never seen him in person... skinny as can be, but very tall. This allows him to move around quickly and climb like crazy on lots of things I never thought possible.

Today at the pool, while I had my feet dipped in the baby pool with Camden pouring water on my hands, I shut my eyes *for two seconds* and enjoyed getting some sun in peace. All of a sudden, I'm tapped on the shoulder by a very young girl who says to me "excuse me, but I think your baby might fall off." PANIC! I turn around and Camden has scaled the baby pool fence and is sitting like a King on top of the fence. Once he catches my eye, he gives me the BIGGEST grin I've ever seen and bucks back-and-forth like a baby seal who has just learned a new trick.

*breathe*

Our time at home is not much different. He climbs into buckets, behind our couch, all over his crib.... thankfully he is confident and does not seem to be prone to falling. Should I be thankful for that!?

Anyway, our little guy is 15 months old now and he is learning so much. He surprises me every day with a new word he's learning, or just how much he mimics us. I really do not give him enough credit when I ought.

Since we saw the doctor for his milestone check-up, here are a couple of his stats:

- Height: 33 inches (97th percentile)
- Weight: 22 pounds, 5 ounces (25th percentile)

New sign language motions: helicopter, thank you, your welcome, water, car, bike, help, more and please (performing these consistently now)

Words (loosely pronounced, but used in the correct context): Truck, tractor, vacuum, bathroom, fan, cheerio, cereal, bum, diaper, doctor, phone, game, Jeep, help, cheese, water, pool, balloon, etc.

He eats his food mostly independently with a spoon and fork, but doesn't quite drink from a cup without spilling it everywhere. He RUNS everywhere, call the cat to "come" like we do by making kissing noises, snapping, patting our legs, etc. He's into hugging and kissing (only when he wants to), and is still very, very shy around most men.

You will notice in a couple of pictures that  my poor baby has a black eye with a big scratch next to it. I think it makes him look a little rugged ;) He had a run-in with the corner of a bed frame but thankfully is just fine!

Stop growing little boy, I'm just madly in love with you now (of course I always will be)!



Camden's new thing: praying. It melts my heart each time. When he's tucked into bed at night, we pray together, then I tell him to pray with Henry (gets him to close his eyes!). Before each meal, lately, he'll fold his hands and bow his head, poke one eye open to see what I'm doing, then immediately shouts the most gleeful "AMEN" you've ever heard!


"AMEN!!"


See? Pure Monkey. I don't know what he's doing here or how that could be comfortable, but he's only a foot off the ground so it doesn't bother me.


Peek-a-boo. Pleasing babies and toddlers for generations (please note the toes sticking out in the left photo).

Thursday, July 19, 2012

13 and 14 Months

Where has the time gone?? My boy is suddenly almost 15 months old, and I'm so behind at posting his pictures I should be ashamed! This summer has turned out to be the busiest one yet... between running my business, taking care of our very busy toddler, going on vacation, among other things, we have just been on the move constantly. We have yet to have one weekend at home with no plans since this winter. We are certainly enjoying every second though. This is SUCH a fun age and Bobby and I are so enjoying being able to watch Camden grow.

We were in Paris for his 14 month birthday, so the pictures were taken a week later. Although he may not look too different, his development has really spiked over the last month, I feel like. He's saying many more words, communicating much more effectively, expressing opinions and feelings AND, he's able to point to each body part if you ask him where it is! (We are very proud, can you tell?!) He's just so much fun, and seems to really enjoy us all being together.

Thanks to both sets of grandparents (Wise's and Barrick's) for watching Camden while we were away. I know he really liked spending time with each of you!


Little explorer.


Love these tired brown eyes :)

Monday, July 9, 2012

Snippets of Paris

It felt like a dream... waking up and peering out to our little balcony onto the streets of Paris. I've been dreaming of that moment for several years now, and finally I was there.

We ventured out a lot, did a ton of walking (with only two small blisters, I might add), and felt like Parisians. We drank espresso like the French, ordered food in poorly-spoken French (I tried, ok?!), sipped on wine during 10pm dinners, and glanced at all the couples in love in the cafes and streets. It was glorious.

I have so much to tell and so many pictures to share, but alas my bodily clock is ready to shut down for the night. Can I just say that while Paris was a dream (and a whirlwind), I am so thankful to be under the same roof with both of my sweet boys tonight.

Here are some little snippets to tide you over until intensive editing takes place :)

Outside Versailles Palace

The Iron Lady in person... ahh...


My oh-so-handsome hubby of five years.

The Paris carousel next to the Tulleries Gardens


Paris! From atop the Sacre Coeur dome.


Sacre Coeur.


Moi.


Inside the Louvre. My favorite piece.


Outside the Louvre, right after it rained.


Flower shop.


My handsome hubby again. My favorite outfit.

On Ile Saint Louis overlooking the back of Notre Dame.


That's all for now!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Summer Nights in DC

I say it so often, but I never do much about it: we live so close, but don't spend nearly enough time in DC! We're only about an hour and change south of DC and it's relatively an easy drive to get there. Maybe now that we have a kid, we'll get some more use out of our taxpayer dollars at work :)

We were invited by some of Bobby's college friends to go to a summer concert at a park on the Anacostia river a couple weekends back! They have live music and you can bring your own picnic dinner. There's a really awesome water fountain (for lack of a better term) at the park, where kids are just let loose in the 1-foot-deep fountain to play around! It was perfect for small kids, which we all had (four in total) and it wore them out a bit before dinner. This was no ordinary picnic... Lindsay made some gourmet picnic food that's better than most of my nightly dinners! Bruschetta, chocolate zucchini cake, quinoa salad with avocados... we also had some homemade bread (still warm from the oven!), olives, cheeses, fried chicken and cookies! We drank wine out of sippy cups (minus the lids), and enjoyed great company and conversation while the kids ran around on the giant boardwalk overhanging the river! The weather was perfect, and it made me so excited for all the fun things we have in store this summer with our sweet boy!

Here are a couple pictures from our night... the park is called The Yards, and it's brand new in a nice little area of the city!



Jack LOVES to splash! It's so funny with the faces he makes!

I hope these boys will be best pals growing up... they are so cute together now!

My little, skinny boy... the water was warm, but his teeth were chattering! He didn't want to get out, regardless.



Stuffing his face with fruit and fresh bread.

Us <3

James, Lyndsay with their two sweet things!

Marie & her boyfriend - so cute!

Christina, AJ and Jack

Dancing... with the creepy baby doll!