Abby and Jack

Abby was in for a visit today. We went to lunch with Cindy and Olivia (see below!). This was the first time Abby got to meet Jack (I'm such a jerk, the last few times I have seen Abby, I didn't bring Jack). They got along famously, as you can see in the photo.

Rolling Over!

Rolling Over!
Originally uploaded by kar.barrett

So it has officially started; Jack is moving!

He rolled over for the "first" time last Thursday while Auntie Bubbles (Cathy) was babysitting. He was on his tummy and pushed himself over to his back.

Then he rolled over for his dad on Father's Day from his back to his tummy (he's such a thoughtful little boy!).

Then yesterday he rolled over for me! That's when this picture was taken.

Now everyone warned me to beware once he started rolling over. Well, I just laid him down for a late afternoon nap. We've been letting him cry himself to sleep in an effort to teach him how to soothe himself. So I let him cry for a few minutes. Then I went in to check on him because he was getting louder and more irritated. Yep, he had rolled over on his tummy! Guess even Jack knows that he should be sleeping on his back, not on his stomach!

Happy Anniversary - It's not quite leather

To my dear and loving husband...

I could go on in the words of the great Puritan poet, Anne Bradstreet, but it's summer vacation, so my own words will have to do!

It has been three wonderful years. In case you didn't know this, I really do have the greatest husband on the planet. Who else's husband would volunteer to do all of the dirty work while I took a photo class? Who else's husband knows the perfect way to make his wife laugh after a long hard day of high school craziness?

People often accuse me of being able to write, however on an occasion such as this, I do not have the words to explain my love and thankfulness for you.

I love you Steve!

New Slideshow element

Check out the slideshow to the right. These are my photos in Flickr. Pretty cool, eh?

Enjoy and feel free to comment on them here!

Summer vacation is finally here!!

That's right, it is the official return of Summer Karen. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

I have some great pictures to share in today's entry. But first, I thought I'd describe my first day of summer vacation. We put Jack to bed last night for the first time letting him cry himself to sleep. It went pretty well. He cried for less than half an hour and finally fell asleep. Steve volunteered for the dirty job of sitting with him and letting him cry. I sat in the office (right across the hall) and paid bills. I needed to have something to do to keep myself from getting too upset. Jack then proceeded to sleep really well; he woke up for his one feeding and then went back to sleep.

Jack woke up a little before 6, but we waited until 6 a.m. to get him. It was pretty fun going in to his room with Steve and seeing him smile at the two of us. What a great way to start the day!

From there, we went on a walk, the whole family! Breyer was so excited she couldn't keep all four paws on the floor at once. It was a nice morning for a walk too.

After Steve left for work, Jack and I played a little more on his playmat and then it was finally time for his first nap. I let him cry it out again, but it only took a few minutes and one renukking. I decided to take a nap too, and we slept for two hours!

This is when the fun started. We got up and it was time for Jack to eat again. I made his bottle and fed him. Steve had called, and I figured we could leave for his office in about 30 minutes. I hung up, then realized I hadn't taken my shower yet. I took what I thought was a quick shower and then started packing up Jack for our outing. I was almost all ready to go (it had been about 45 minutes at this point) and I couldn't find my wallet. I searched everywhere. I even called Outback, where we had eaten last night. I finally got ahold of Steve and he had put my wallet in the glove compartment of the truck.

Finally, we were ready to go (it had now been an hour). I picked up Jack and headed for the carseat. He vomitted all over both of us and the floor. We detoured from the carseat to Jack's room, changed his clothes, headed to my room, changed my clothes, went back to the carseat, cleaned the floor and my shoes, then finally hit the road. It had only been an hour and 15 minutes. Luckily, Steve is patient.

We had lunch at Old Towne Pub, which was really relaxing since there weren't many people there. Jack watched the flat screen the whole time. After we dropped off Steve, we headed for the grocery store and Target. We finally made it back home around 3, just in time for Jack to eat again.

Jack did take another nap this afternoon, which was nice. I was able to relax a little after all of the excitement of the midday. Steve came home and it was like Jack knew and woke up just for him. We had dinner, and little more play time, and then a bath. Jack went to sleep a little easier tonight, he only cried for a few minutes, maybe five.

What a great start to vacation!

Okay, here are some fun photos!

Father's Day










Barrett Family Day out




5 months old

A long overdue update

So being back at work has made blogging much more difficult. There has been lots of happenings around the Barrett household. Jack is growing like crazy; it's really fun. Steve has overseen the remodeling of Jack's bathroom and it is beautiful. We have to paint it and hang some mirrors, but the hard stuff is done! Luckily, school is out in two weeks, so I am hoping to be better about the blog over the summer. If for no other reason, I really like looking back at the entries to see what we have accomplished.

Of course, I have lots of photos to show you. I hope you enjoy them!

First up, the Christening!






3-month Jack


4 1/2 month Jack


Dad and Jack




Our newest adventure - Eating Cereal


Mother's Day

Brief update...

So this weekend was another big first for us.

This was the first time I spent a night away from Jack. Last weekend my students earned their way to compete in the State journalism competition. So this past Friday, we hopped on the bus and went to Charleston, Ill for the night to compete at Eastern Illinois University on Saturday. It was a little difficult. I kept trying to burb my students or to get them to take a nap, but they just wouldn't do it. Luckily, they are great kids and kept me occupied the whole time so I didn't get too down.

Steve and Jack had a fun weekend too. They played on Friday with Nanna, and she stayed over to play on Saturday too. There was lots of smiling and giggling. There was some crying too, but only because Jack's still trying to get used to his sleep schedule.

Anyway, I thought I'd record the momentous occasion. I lived through a night away from my boys. I'd prefer not to do it, but now I know I can if I have to.

More family fun

We... meaning Steve... have been demolishing the bathroom in the hall in preparation to remodel it. Here is Steve taking out the tub. And he wonders why I worry about him getting a chainsaw!

Fun photos

Here's a quick entry with a couple of photos from our fun family day yesterday. This is Jack's 3-month photo as well as one from our fun walk by the river!

Long overdue update

Okay, we've been a little busy the last month. Jack was diagnosed with reflux about 2 or 3 weeks ago. Before that, he was crying a ton and in some pain (turns out, that's what too much stomach acid will do to a baby). Now, he's on Zantac (don't worry, they make it in a liquid for babies) and we have switched from breastfeeding to a hypoallergenic formula (much to my dismay, but much better for Jack's esophagus and tummy). We're finally getting into something of a routine, just in time for me to go back to work.

Not everything over the past month has been a struggle though. Jack has started smiling and laughing (even more so now that we have his diet and his meds figured out!). We were also visited by the Easter Bunny. And now that we've started working on routines, we're also reading bedtime stories. This parenting thing gets better and better every day.

So, I return to work on Monday. I'm not going to talk much about that because there really isn't much to say. On the bright side, Steve will be home with Jack for two weeks. I think they're really going to have some fun while I'm away. I've heard plans of baseball watching (the Cubs won today!) and some visits to friends. I will be jealous.

Now for the fun... here are some photos from the past month!

Jack is 1 month old

We've kept him alive and well for a whole month! Actually, one month and one day! One month of a baby's life goes much faster than one month of pregnancy. It's a lot more fun too.

So yesterday, we took a few pictures to mark the occasion. We took pictures with the bear from Dad. When you look at these pictures and compare them to the first photos with the bear when he was four days old, you can see how he has grown. It's most obvious in his face.









It's fun to look back over the last month and see how far we have come. Jack is now consistently eating on a three-hour schedule, occasionally he goes even a little longer. His eyes are working together now too instead of rolling around separately. He stares at both Steve and me pretty intently. He is starting to smile with his eyes open now. We've caught him smiling at us a few times; although I'm still not positive it's not gas.

Today was pretty fun. I think I caught him starting to roll over. We often lay him on his back on the couch with us, and I did that today while I was on the phone with my mom. Jack started to kick his legs and rolled onto his left side. I put him back on his back and he did it again. He didn't get all the way over to his tummy though. So now I'm watching him like a hawk!




This picture cracks me up. It looks like he knows he's doing something sneaky.

Well, that's the update. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Big News!

So this is getting it's own entry.

Steve has been accepted into Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management! He will start the part-time program this summer. He was a little shocked when he got the phone call and wanted to wait until he got the packet in the mail to make sure (of course, it was true!). The packet came within a few days of the phone call.

He is so excited, and so am I. It will take him about 4 years to complete his MBA. It will be a fun ride for the next four years!

Cousins!

Jack and I took our first trip out of the house just the two of us today. We went up to visit Aunt Susie and Cousin Nick in Gurnee. The roads weren't too bad, which helped keep my blood pressure in a normal range!

Anyway, while we were there, we took some pictures. Enjoy my new nephew!