Bowen Barrett - 12 MONTHS!!!

We made it! The BIG one year milestone has come and gone... It is so hard to believe. You just seem older to me these days. It was such a fun day to celebrate. And  I had a hard time looking at the clock and not feeling nostalgic. It was such a special day. Always will be. We started the day with donuts and cousins. We all sang "Happy Birthday" and let you blow out a candle! You loved the donut, no surprise there! :) Lulu took us out to Blue Sky for your birthday lunch, where I officially ordered your very first 'solo' meal. You ate almost the entire grilled cheese, which I am pretty sure was more than any of the older boys. It was a fun day, and we ended it with an ice cream sandwich, that you LOVED. You can thank Aunt Mon for that! Happy Birthday sweet Bowen Barrett!!!

At 12 months, you weigh 23.9 lbs and are about 29 inches. You still have lots of wonderful, chunky arms and legs, but you definitely have stopped gaining weight like you have in the past. You are so very active and I just thought you were into everything last month!! You still love the kitchen and Crockett's room, but now you have found the bathroom. Gross. You love when your brother leaves the toilet seat up and if it is down (which it usually is) you go for the toilet paper. You always leave a trail :)  You aren't quite walking, but you are cruising, and I have a feeling it won't be too long. You have mastered the bye-bye wave, but will rarely do it on cue. You have also started giving the best, sloppiest kisses, with tongue most of the time. They are so precious, especially when you do it without me asking. You are getting several teeth and are super whiny, so all you say lately is MAMA or MA!!! ALL DAY LONG! I love it, but will be glad when you expand your vocabulary just a little bit! (and get those darn teeth!!) You are the sweetest, happiest little boy and I have had the best time watching you grow over the last year. I know we have so many wonderful, special milestones ahead of us. You have blessed our family in every way. We are all smitten with our Bowen Bear and love you to the moon and back! Happy Birthday, sweet boy!

ROADTRIP!

After the Luig's came to visit us, Brandi and I set a date to go visit them in Ft. Worth. We were so excited when that weekend finally came! We left on Thursday afternoon, thinking that the boys could nap while we drove... WRONG!! Bowen slept about 1 hour and did ok for a while, but he SCREAMED the last 2 hours. It was not an enjoyable car ride. He did, however, fall asleep about 2 minutes before we arrived at their house. Of course. Once we got there, we all happily piled out of the car. Crockett was SO HAPPY to see Cade! They immediately started playing. You would have thought it was 10 in the morning, not at night, because they had SO much energy! The next morning, we had planned on getting ready for the zoo, but Brynn was running a fever. Brandi took Brynn to the dr and the rest of us went to eat at Fuzzy's and then headed to the zoo. Crockett had been waiting to go to the zoo for a long time! He was so very excited! We had a great time, even though it was so hot and humid. We saw ALL the animals, fed the birds and turtles, rode the merry-go-round, ate sno-cones, played on the playground, Bowen took a nap, and we rode the train. I would say it was a very successful trip to the zoo! It was SO much fun! That night we had a babysitter come stay with the kiddos and all the mommies and daddies went out. We all had a great time, but definitely can't stay out like we used to! :) 

On Saturday, Chris went with Josh to work. They had to leave at 5 a.m. Yuck! We all got ready and went to watch Cade play t-ball. He did such a great job! Crockett was excited to watch him, since his t-ball was starting the next Monday. After t-ball, we went home to rest/nap, eat lunch and wait for the daddies to get home. We went to the Locknane's house that evening for dinner. We had not seen them or the kids in way too long! It had seemed rainy all day, but that evening the weather was perfect. The kids played on the slip n slide, in the playhouse, sandbox and rode around on the Barbie gator. They dressed up and put shows on for us. It was so funny! They all played so well together. We had such a great time! I don't know why we don't all get together more often!?!

Bye Bye Funny Bugs!

We have really enjoyed Little Gym this year. Crockett loves playing with his Funny Bug friends, especially Vincent and Atley, the princess :) They have become quite the little trio. I have been lucky enough to make some new friends, and get to catch up with an old one, too. So, I guess we both looked forward to Little Gym because we got to see our friends, and usually, a sample of some bundt cake next door after gym time was over! The very last day of Little Gym was a showcase, where each child got to show off their new skills. It was lots of fun to watch each of them perform and cheer their buddies on. They were all very well-behaved and excited to have their mommies and daddies to watch. Mr. JD and Miss Jenna were great with the kids and we can't wait until next year!

Ruidoso!

We were so excited to tag along with the Curry's to Ruidoso for John's baseball tournament! It has been SO long since we have gone anywhere and there is nothing better than a little mountain air! We left on Friday after everyone got out of school and just in time to make it to Tatum, NM for dinner. Little did we know, there was a small restaurant that has the BEST steakfingers EVER. We all ate until our little (or big) bellies couldn't handle anymore. They were delicious! My two boys both ate them, which is a small miracle :) After dinner, we got back in the car and continued on our way. It was pretty uneventful with the exception of Bowen's screams. In his defense, he made it most of the way before he started crying, but we were DEFINITELY ready to get out of the car when we got there! We got to stay in a SUPER NICE condo, thanks to Uncle Ryan. After we got everyone in their jammies and situated in their rooms and after a quick trip to WalMart, it was bedtime. It had been a long day. On Saturday morning, we got up to go watch John play. They had 2 games, and we left with the intention of seeing both, however, with a small detour, the game starting 20 minutes early and ending with the run rule, we missed the first game. We did get to watch the 2nd. The guys all played really well. John had an awesome hit and it was a lot of fun to watch them. After the game was over and some lunch, we were all EXCITED to go to White Sands. Monica and I had really talked it up and have some great memories from our childhood and we were hoping our families would get to experience the same fun time. So, after a hour in the car to get there, we get out, and although beautiful, it was HOT as the dickens. I mean 100 degrees hot. Chris gives me a hard time because I was not expecting the heat, but I wasn't. He always says, "Jess, it is in the middle of the desert." But still, I wasn't expecting 100 degree heat. We all walked up the sand dunes with our saucers, hoping to have some fun sliding. The boys all got in their saucers and went... NOWHERE. The saucers didn't budge. Chris was sure we were just in the wrong spot. So we moved. Nothing. We put grease (that Chris had in his pickup) on the bottom of the saucers. Nothing. The guys were not impressed. AT ALL. It was a HUGE disappointment to all of us. Monica and I most of all. We used to have so much fun there... Oh well. We did get some cute pictures and some super yummy pistachios on the way back :) We were all exhausted when we got home. The boys took a bath in the humongous bathtub and we had pizza and went to sleep. It had been a long day. The next morning we got up and went out for some yummy breakfast. Then it was on to one more baseball game. John's team was on FIRE! They played so good! Bowen was ready to fall asleep after the first game, so we decided to head home right after that. Have to take advantage of nap time! We had such a great time watching John and hanging out with the Curry's. We are sure blessed to have family like them!