A Day at the Park

Last weekend we spent a great afternoon at the park with friends (over 15 kids!!) and a pot luck picnic.  I forgot my camera, but one of the Dads took some great photos of the kids playing.....I'm officially saving up my pennies for my digital SLR camera!  Claire had a blast playing and meeting some new friends and Fielder took some of his best naps in months so I guess the sunshine did him some good too!

There were so many favorites of Katie, it was hard to choose!  This one is just adorable.

5 months!

Last week Fielder turned 5 months! The past month has been a bit of a blur...we've had a really rough time with sleep - or lack thereof! I guess it's been a combination of a growth spurt, sleep regression, development, maybe teething? I checked out every book from the library that I could find about sleep and we are working really hard on a routine and helping him learn to fall asleep on his own. I think we're making progress, but I don't want to say that and jinx it...knock on wood, knock on wood!!

At 5 months, Fielder is mostly a happy boy - very fussy when he hasn't slept good though. Even if the naps are short, he's on a pretty predictable schedule. He can roll great from his belly, but has still only rolled over once from his back. He's trying so hard to sit up and we have to be extra careful and buckle him into the swing or bouncy seat.

I like this picture because you can really see the soft hair growing in and how it sticks straight up!

Easter

I think I should call it "Easter Light" this year. We had a very nice Easter, but we didn't do the normal "fanfare" of a holiday (the Easter bunny has not been getting much sleep lately and was TIRED) He still managed to stop by our house to leave a few eggs and an Easter basket for Claire. She was reeeaaally hoping for a chocolate bunny and he came through!

The kids got Easter cards from Mimi and Papa. Baskets from Popa and Abu too, but I forgot to take pictures!

Then in the afternoon we headed to Easter on Parade. Claire was excited to wear her bonnet that we made :-)

Ah, look at the excitement on Fielder's face...

Last stop was Mimi and Papa's house for some Easter fun!

Thanks Mom & Dad for a nice Easter dinner and having Claire spend the night!

Next year I think the bunny better step up his game at the Barnes house :-)

Family Trip to the Farm

Since Fielder was born we've been wanting to make a trip to the farm to introduce him to his Great Grandmother and we finally had the opportunity this past weekend. Sam, Billie, and Bob were all going to be there too (and to our surprise so were Jake and Laura!) We were really nervous about the drive because Fielder HATES the car. We timed it to leave during his nap and luckily he slept most of the way there. It was a gorgeous day on the farm and we loved seeing everyone. (The ride home was not as great....I'm trying to block that from my memory)

Here is Ganny holding Fielder, her 5th great grandchild! And this was the best we could do for a picture of Ganny with both kids.

Billie and Fielder

playing outside and blowing bubbles

This table has seen many family meals and the best ones always include KFC :-)

First Haircut!

4 1/2 years later.....Claire got her first haircut! I don't know how so much time went by, but it literally took years for it to grow and we just never got around to cutting it. Actually I loved her long curls, but it was so difficult to comb through everyday and would always get tangled. I knew it was time for a summer "do."

We've been talking about it for a while and she never seemed to like the idea of cutting it....until I offered a lollipop! So I bribed her with one and got to work. (I figured I'd give it a try, how hard could it be? We can always go to the salon to "fix it"!!)

Before: (it always looks so much longer when it's wet)

Snip snip! I don't know why I am so emotional about that little lock of hair. I keep looking at it thinking about how she had that same hair when she was a baby.

I think she was expecting it to hurt and when she realized it didn't, she was all smiles!

After:

I think it turned out cute! It was wet in this picture, but she definitely still has some curls. It was a bit shorter than I had imagined, but I was having fun snipping away and had to stop myself before it was a total disaster!

Somehow the bribe of a lollipop turned into a lollipop AND a present and since I had a couple little trinkets around, she got 2 ponies to join her animals. She was really excited and asked if she could get another haircut tomorrow!

St. Patrick's Day & Maymont

St. Patrick's Day was this past weekend and that silly leprechaun played all kinds of tricks on Claire at preschool and at our house! He left her a couple messages around the house, turned her milk and bath green, and made a big mess on our kitchen table. We had fun searching around the house for his tricks! :-)

I attempted a St. Patrick's themed hairstyle.....it looked much better on Pinterest.

We had made plans to meet up with Alison, Matt, and Katie at Maymont and it was the most beautiful sunny day. Katie and Claire were adorable walking around holding hands and chatting about who knows what.







It really was the perfect day to spend outside. We had so much fun and especially want to enjoy our time with Katie now that they will be moving for Matt to attend PA school. Thanks guys for a fun day at Maymont!

4 months

The little man is 4 months now....1/3 of the way through the first year! We had his well visit today and he was 26 inches, 14lbs 6 oz. (2lb gain and 2 inch gain since the last appointment)