Moses at Three

I can't get over how my baby looks like a little boy. Maybe because he is! I took him for his three year well check today. The doctor told me he was was way ahead of most three year old in verbal skill as well as physical ability. Moses even showed him how he could snap his fingers which really surprised him. Moses is weighing in at 33.6lbs and I think he was around 42 inches tall (I did not receive a print out). He also got his flu mist vaccine and didn't even flinch. I was impressed!
Moses this is what life is like for you at three:

You wake up at full throttle in the morning. You are on the go as soon as your feet hit the floor, usually around 7:30am. You yell, "come in!" and wait for someone to get you up. You immediately want to eat something, usually a Nutrigrain Eggo waffle and syrup. Sometimes you like to watch your Disney shows while you eat. You like Mickey Mouse, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Handy Manny, and Special Agent Oso.

You usually get a shower with daddy. You like to play with your cup and hate having your hair shampooed our brushed. You love being wrapped up in a towel with a hood on it. You will sit an talk to us and your brother while we finish getting everyone ready. You have been trying to wear the same color as one of us every day. You like to match. You can pretty much dress yourself which is such a help!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays you go to school. You love school SO much. You have learned so many things like: colors, shapes, counting to 10, your ABCs, sharing, coloring, and making friends. You have learned to sing: Jesus Loves Me, Praise Ye the Lord, Row Your Boat, Old McDonald, and many others. Your teachers this year were Mrs. Janice and Mrs. Mary and then this Summer you had Mrs. Erin and Ms. Dara. They all loved having you in their classes!

On Wednesday mornings we go to Bible Study. You have a great time there too. You play with your friends and learn verses. On Sundays when we are at church you love to go to Sunday School. It warms my heart when I think about how much you love church and learning about Jesus. I hope this will continue for the rest of your life.

On many Fridays we go to play group. You have been playing with these friends since you were four months old. They are just the greatest playmates and you all get along very well. We like going to the pool, parks, and each others houses.

When we are home, you love to "play toys." You especially love puzzles, cars, and anything you can pretend with. Your imagination is growing so much. You pretend you have rockets and you are exploring outer space. You also love to "help" me cook. I can't be in the kitchen without you near me. Maybe it is because you love to eat. Between breakfast and lunch you usually have two pieces of fruit. You take the apple a day advice very seriously. At lunch you like a sandwich, gold fish crackers, and more fruit. Usually, there is nothing left!

You also love to play outside. You have a scooter, tricycle, a power wheel motorcycle. You also love to play on the porch with blocks and your little car. You look for the golfers and the tractors that do the landscaping. We also play soccer and football in the back yard. You went for a time this summer where you really did not like birds, but you seem to have gotten over that.

Before you take your nap (usually around 2pm) you get to watch one TV show to wind down. You snuggle on the couch with me or play with cars on the floor. You still have your "Rocky" lovey you sleep with. You have been sleeping in a full sized bed for a long time now and do well with it. You sleep anywhere from and hour and a half to three hours. You wake up again shouting, "Come in Mommy!"

The afternoons are full of more playing and getting ready for dinner. This is usually our hectic time of day. You are just much more wound up after your nap! You get to pick a "pantry" snack after nap. Usually crackers or a cookie. You almost always go upstairs to visit daddy during this time to share your snack. You also look for daddy's secret stash of candy! We play some more in the afternoons. You have started to help more and more with your brother as well. You love him and he looks up to you so much already. I hope you will grow up to be the best of friends.

For dinner you eat what we eat. You are so great about this! When I ask you what you want for dinner you usually say "chicken and rice." I find this so strange! I think you think of most meat as chicken? The struggle we have at dinner is keeping you still. You are just so full of energy all the time. If we eat out you love to go to Chick-fil-a, "Choo Choo Pizza" (a train themed pizza place), Moes, or any place with a cheeseburger. You do have a sweet tooth. You have been known to sneak cookies and then ask us who ate them all. I also have to be careful if I have a soda and I sit it down. You will come right behind me and drink it.

After dinner you spend time with daddy. You love to play golf course and just got your own clubs. You and daddy also like to play any game with a ball. Sometimes you and I will dance in the living room. You love anything upbeat!

We snuggle before bed time and say our prayers. You have completely memorized the following prayer: The sun is gone, the moon has come, and that's a sign this day is done, please God send angels here to stay, until I wake, to a new day. We then bless our friends and family. You really do not like going to bed at night. You usually escape for an extra snuggle, but we try to have you in bed around 8:30pm.

I cannot wait to see how much you will grow in the next year. (Fingers crossed you will be potty trained! Ha!) You are such a sweet boy and make me laugh every day. You keep mommy and daddy on your toes and make your brother smile. You are such an important part of our family. I love you Mo-Mo!

Big Birthday Presents

Now you all can see the reasons,

why we did not feel...

Moses needed too much else..

For his birthday this year!

What I Forgot About the Fourth Month

We finally got the green light to start solids last week. I was elated! All of a sudden, Sutton has not been sleeping well and has been so restless. I think he needs more calories because all of a sudden my silent and still little baby has turned into an active little thing! I had forgotten all that changes around the fourth or fifth month!
Sutton is now rolling over, which means I'm not swaddling him anymore. We tried the sleep sack but it just didn't work. He immediately rolls onto his belly when I put him in his crib so he's now learning to sleep on his stomach. After weeks of restlessness and two trips to the doctor (I am SO paranoid about ear infections) we are trying to do strict sleep training.
In the past several weeks he's gone from just lying around to playing with toys, rolling, talking, and being able to spend time in his jumper. That's a lot going on! I guess he's just adjusting. I looked back at Moses' baby book at this time (yes, I also keep a written book) and he was going through a similar thing. How easy we forget!

Until the Decision is His, The Commitment is Ours

Sutton with his "fairy godmother" Joelle

This past Sunday was a special one for Sutton and our family. Since we are Baptist, we believe that the decision to be a Christian is one that has to be made by each person. When a baptism is performed, it is by choice (I personally think it is wonderful to have a full immersion baptism. I think is shows just how serious you are about joining the church.) At our church, we do what is called a dedication. This means we commit ourselves to raising our child in a Christian home and teaching him about Jesus and what it means to believe in him.

After the sermon the four of us went before the church and Kristen Muse our associate pastor introduced us to the church and read the verses we have chosen for Sutton. We chose Zephaniah 3:17 for him. It reads, "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save you, He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will exult over you with singing."

After she spoke, we handed Sutton to Dr. Hailey who "showed him off" to the the church. At this point Sutton had the hiccups! After this he prayed over Sutton and our family and gave him back to us. He said he hoped that the prayer would cure his hiccups but it didn't work. It all went very well. I knew Sutton would be fine, but I was really worried that Moses would try to announce that it was his birthday or something!

After the service, we came back to our house and had lunch with our friends and family. It was so nice! I was horrible at taking pictures because I was so busy putting out lunch and then I had to feed Sutton. But I did take a picture of the food and the extremely yummy cake. Thank you to all of those who made that day so special! I know it was a whirl wind weekend and I promise I will never have three parties in one weekend again!

Welcome to Fuquay....

Jimmy and Megan! Ok, NO ONE guessed this. I even had a phone call asking if I was having twins. Um, NO! Megan recently took a job at Methodist and Jimmy at NC State. Since their house had not sold down east, they needed a place to live for a few weeks. Bless their hearts, they will be staying at crazy Chez Barker for a while!

Moses' Third Birthday Party

I tell you what, little kids can party hard! With a busy weekend planned, I knew it would be best to have Moses' party somewhere other than our house. One of his favorite places is the Rainbow Room. It's perfect because when you reserve it, you are the only people using it for that block of time. Also, it is one of Moses' favorite places! Basically it is a huge warehouse room with the biggest piece of playground equipment you could possibly imagine. The kids can run around and the adults know they are safe!
We ordered pizza and had snacks and kids played and ate and played and ate! Moses insisted he wanted a Buzz Lightyear cake, so that is what he got! He also picked out Cars plates. Couple all that with his hat, and he was one excited guy. I think he had a little party anxiety. He hardly said anything all day! I thought he was sick because that is SO not like him. Luckily, that was not the case!

If you can't tell, he had a GREAT time! Nearly everyone we invited was able to attend. Moses has such great friends, and so do we. I think all the kids had a super time. Thanks to everyone who was able to come and share Moses' special day. We all love you so much. Oh, and sorry about the party horns. I'm pretty sure no one took any home!

A Surprise for ME!

All last week I ran around like a mad woman trying to get all the things I needed to for the parties this weekend. (I mean I even painted the trim in three rooms of the house and the porch railings and columns.) I had been consumed in getting everything just right. I had no idea my husband was up to something sneaky. Usually, I can see straight through him. I know him so well and he is a terrible secret keeper.

He had told me we were going to a friend's birthday dinner since we would have free babysitters. This person is not a great friend and I just did not understand WHY we were going to a small birthday gathering. I told him that I could not go if we did not get a lot done and I just wanted to work on party stuff. He said no go, we had to attend.

We walked into the restaurant, and there sat my parents and some of my friends including Joelle, who had come up early from Charlotte (by the way, there were three events this weekend and she attended them all, she rocks). At first I was SO confused. Then I realized what was going on and I was so embarrassed! It was an early birthday dinner for me!

I cannot believe Brett pulled this off! I really have not thought much about turning thirty. A sweet friend of mine is getting married that weekend so we will be busy celebrating her and her future hubby. I guess Brett wanted to make sure I got a little celebration too!

P.S. Want to know the reason there are no photos on this blog entry? Because when you throw a surprise party for the blogger you get NO photos!

Today's hint for the new members of our household, yes they ARE human!

Weee! Moses is Three!

Last Wednesday, THIS GUY, turned three!!! Moses' party was not until Saturday, but we wanted to make the day special for him. That morning we woke up and sang to him and gave him his presents. Moses received big gifts from both grandparents so we wanted to get him something small but exciting. Since he has been pretending to be cutting grass and blowing off our yard lately, we bought him a weed eater. He loves it!
After presents, I took Moses and Sutton to Chick-fil-a for breakfast and to play. We came home and played with his new toys. I asked him what he wanted to do for lunch. He told me he wanted a "breetow" so we took him to Moes and then to Walmart to look at toys. He loves to go and see all the different stuff that "lives" at store. We came home for naps and more lawn care. I really think he could have played all day with that thing!

Later that night, we took Moses to his favorite pizza place. (If you can't tell our family loves to eat, and Moses loves to pick where we go so that's how we celebrate!) The restaurant is train themed and they have a wooden train he can play with while we wait for our food. Is this not the most brilliant idea ever? Moses is so well behaved when we are there).

It was a great day. Moses really gets birthdays now and he was so excited the entire week. Since he was in summer preschool he even got to celebrate with his class. But the thing he was most looking forward to? His big party! I'll write more about that later this week!

By the way, I received a couple of guesses about our "growing" household. Sorry, but they were both wrong! No pets for this family right now! Try again!

Lots to Celebrate

So much has happened this week that I wan to properly document it all. I am going to try and write each day to properly give each event it's due. We've had birthday celebrations (one a surprise), a baby dedication, and lots of little life events in between. To make things more exciting, I have a mystery for you all to guess (LDT does this often and it is SO fun). This week our household is going to grow by two. Let the gossip and guessing fly in the comments box!

First Day of Church

Here is our little bugaboo ready for his first trip to church. I took 8 pictures. He had his hands in his mouth in every.single.one. Sigh.

AHOY!

Ahoy Mateys! I threatened to make Brett walk the plank unless he took some time off. So, he listened and off to Emerald Isle we went. Even my dad took a few days off and my mom left early on a Friday (I am writing this down because this NEVER EVER happens. Well unless dad is fishing.) We took a little day trip to Beaufort to check out the Maritime Exhibit of Pirates. We first stopped and did the fastest tour ever of the aquarium. Seriously, it was fun but I think Moses spent more time looking in then gift shop than at the fish. We also, made time for our favorite lunch spot, the NY Deli in Atlantic Beach. If you have never been there GO. I have been going since I was little. Jerry, who owns the place, is great and so is the food.

We finally made it to Beaufort to see the pirate booty. What good would a pirate be without his hat? Just before I took this photo I asked Pirate Moses if he would like some ice cream. He tole me that THAT pirate was not eating ice cream. See for yourself.
I had been told that the this exhibit was good but not really geared for kids. So correct. Moses liked it, but like the aquarium, it was a quick trip. Pretending to steer a ship is really all he wanted to do. We did some walking around and got our ice cream. I LOVE Beaufort and one day I will be able to walk around and do what I want there! Oh, the best part of the trip was when we were walking to the car and Moses's pants fell down. He thought this was the funniest thing that had ever happened and stood there laughing. He spent the rest of the day trying to make his pants fall down. I SO wish I had a picture of that.

Born to be wild

So help me if I catch these two leaving my house like this in 15 years I will have a heart attack. Mom was staying with us and one of her friends came through town and stopped by to see us. She and her boyfriend rode his motorcycle. When Moses heard someone was riding a motorcycle to his house he promptly walked to the porch and waited until they rode up. He adored this guy and thought it was just the greatest thing. He played on the motorcycle and then asked the guy if he wanted to see his train table. Boys and their toys!

Sutton at Four Months!

The older he gets, the better he gets! I am loving this four month old baby boy. Everyone comments on how happy he is. He is always smiling and now really laughing hard. It is the best sound in the world.

Sutton is also exploring a lot more. He can old objects in his hands and then immediately put them in his mouth! He is reaching for things and grasping them really well. He is also staring to play in his activity jumper. (It's like an exersaucer but it bounces). He seems to like it a lot. I love it because it gives him another view of the world!

My baby boy is starting to roll over some from his belly to his back. He can roll on his side from his back. Honestly, I just don't think he's too interested in it all. When I put him on his back he loves to kick up a storm, but he's just not motivated to go anywhere just yet. After having a super mobile first child, I am SO ok with his!

On Sunday, we took Sutton to church for the first time. He did great and got some good cuddle time in with Miss Vivian. Mr. Bob was upset that he had other obligations that morning and couldn't play with him, but I know he will get his turn! I tried to take a good pictures but he was just interested in putting his hands in his mouth.

I can tell Sutton is starting to get a little upset when I leave the room. He likes me where he can see me. He whimpers some if he is on the floor and I run to the kitchen. Luckily he's still doing great when other people hold him or we leave him with others.

I was so happy today to have a normal well check. His ears were all clear and his GI issues are a little better. We still will be seen at Duke and we have to hold off on starting solids till then. Right now, he is weighing in at 14lbs 6.5 oz and 25.25 inches long. (For those of you keeping score, Moses was 15lbs 12oz and 26.5 inches at four months) As long as he stays healthy, he will be seen for a well check at 6 months. FINGERS CROSSED!!!

It's only been four months with our sweet Sutton, but I cannot imagine our family without him!