Skype

Don't know if any of our family/friends use Skype, but we just set up an account yesterday. Basically, if you have a video camera on your computer/hooked up to your computer, we can "chat" through this program and you can see us/Keatin live. Even if you don't have a camera, you can still set up an account and we can hear you while you can see us. It works pretty slick... Let us know if you have the program - our Skype name is joshmegankeatin. :) (You can download the program at www.skype.com.)

Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends! It has been a wonderful holidays for Josh, Keatin, and myself - we have truly enjoyed Keatin's First Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, we headed to SL. We went to church at St. Mary's with my parents and Josh's dad, and then had a wonderful dinner at the Barber residence with G & G Petersen, G & G Barber, Bri, and Jon/Patti McKenna. After a VERY restless night of sleep (Josh says we are NEVER sleeping in the same room as Keatin again), Keatin, Josh, and I were up around 6 to check and see if Santa had come. :) We spent most of Christmas Day at G & G Barber's house, opened gifts, and played some video games. We went to G & G Petersen's house for a few hours, talked to Aunt Jen on the phone (she had to work on Christmas Eve in Omaha), talked to Great-Grandma Petersen in California through iChat on the computer, and had a WONDERFUL dessert. We slid our way back to Ames on Christmas night...bad weather and made me VERY nervous...but Josh got us safely home.

Then...we "hosted" Christmas in Ames the last 3 days for Jen/Joey and G & G Petersen. We have had a wonderful time, opened more gifts, Dad/Joey/Josh worked in the basement some, and just basically relaxed/hung out - it has been nice. Mom and Dad are still here, but Jen/Joey took off a few hours ago...

Below is a link to about 60 pictures we have taken over the course of the last several days. Josh told me I had to get them uploaded today so Great-Grandma Heeren could see them on Alex and Irene's computer...so enjoy! :) (I have a few videos as well, but was having issues getting them uploaded earlier...will try again, so check back!)



http://targetphoto.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=134zhx62.5spa176e&x=0&y=85l0ye&localeid=en_US

Cereal :)

Our baby girl is officially growing up - we tried cereal over the weekend! I put the high chair together Saturday morning when Josh was at work, and only put 2 of the bolts on backwards - ha ha! Josh fixed this problem when he got home... :) She took a few bites both on Saturday and Sunday, but seemed to spit up quite a bit after each attempt...we will keep trying!

THE BEFORE PICTURE...

THE FIRST BITE...

A LATER BITE..

Aaron, Trish, and Lane were in Des Moines for a wedding, so stopped by on Sunday for about an hour on their way back to CF. Here are some pics of the happy couple...Keatin has SO many boys to choose from, maybe Lane will be her man - who knows! :)

Josh and I are headed to Minneapolis this afternoon and will be gone overnight/until tomorrow around supper time. He is getting an award for work and Grandma Barber is coming to stay with Keatin. I am feeling very sad about leaving her again, but also want to be there to support Josh. Keatin and I are very proud of him!

Reading and Giggling...

My first snow day of the year was yesterday... I PRAY I don't have as many as last year - URGH! However, I was very spoiled to get to stay home with Keatin - it was hard to go back to work this morning.

Below are 2 pics and a video from yesterday. She loved reading the new book I got her - COUNTING CHRISTMAS. In addition, when Josh was home for lunch, he had Keatin giggling SO much...so I made him get out the camera and try to catch some of it on video. Please ignore the yucky-looking mommy in the video, and the goofy noises dad is making...I know, I know - we are geeks!

4 month doctor's appointment

Josh took Keatin to her 4 month doctor's appointment this morning...daddy and Keatin off to the doctor together! :)

She weighed in at 14 pounds and 24.5 inches long...50th percentile for both. Such a big girl - she is almost double her birth-weight...that is CRAZY! Dr. Paschen said she could start rice cereal...but before we do that, we have to buy the cereal, bowls, and spoons...and have Josh put the high chair together - ha ha! We will try it sometime this week...and don't worry, I am sure there will be LOTS of pictures!

New video :)

Here is a short, new video of Keatin...one of her new tricks. :)

Josh took her for her 4 month appointment this morning...once I get all the details about how it went, I will pass along the information!

Hips look good!

Keatin and I went to see her pediatric orthopedic doctor in Des Moines yesterday morning...she had to get her hips x-rayed again (1st time since the day after she was born). We got to see the x-rays right afterwards, and everything looked like it was forming/developing properly! Dr. Lindaman also rotated her hips some and said they are moving completely normal. SO...we don't have to go back until April! Hopefully by that point, she will be crawling/sitting/doing more weight-bearing things on her hips so we can make sure the joint is working properly. Keatin did a VERY good job...she flirted with the x-ray ladies and they told me she looked like the Gerber baby. :)

Keatin and Jen

Thanksgiving

We had a very nice thanksgiving break in Storm Lake! Keatin did not sleep very well when we were there...which was a bummer because she had been doing SO good! SO...I am a bit sleep-deprived after the weekend...but hope she will get back into her routine this week. She also managed to get her snotty nose and cough back...and I believe she is starting the teething process! Tomorrow I take her back to get her hips x-rayed...I will keep you posted on the results!

Thanks to ALL of our family for their help with Keatin...and their kind words about what a nice baby she is. We certainly are proud of her! :)


Had to include this picture... It is from last weekend when dad, Josh, and I tailgated at the ISU/Missouri football game. As you can tell, it was a balmy day in Ames, IA! :) Not! I just think we look ridiculous!

Keatin greeted Aunt Jen on Thanksgiving morning by spitting up all over her hand! (Which COMPLETELY grossed Jen out...it was funny!)

We had Keatin in this cute little Thanksgiving outfit...until she pooped all over it. Josh took a quick picture of it before we had to take it off!

Keatin with her mommy and daddy... :)

Mom/Dad/Aunt Jen/Uncle Joey...and Keatin!

After we ate Thanksgiving dinner at the Petersen house, we headed over to the Barber residence for dessert. Here is a family pic! :)

On Friday morning, we headed over to LeMars for a few hours to see all the relatives in my dad's family. Everyone was in town for my grandma's 80th birthday. Below is my Uncle Ken and dad "caring after" Keatin...this was quite funny for me to watch! :)

Keatin hanging out with cousin Emily...

Keatin and Great-Grandma...

Keatin and Daddy had lots of fun hanging out and playing on Saturday morning... :)




On Saturday afternoon, we traveled again to LeMars for my grandma's 80th birthday open house at the country club. We got to see TONS of family, and it was SO nice to see everyone who had traveled from Arizona/California.

My 2nd cousin Makenzie, and her husband Micah, had a baby on August 18th...11 days after Keatin. Here are pics of Keatin and baby Ella meeting for the first time...it was fun to see her!


Aunt Jen, feeding Keatin at grandma's party... She did this for about 2 minutes, until she feared that Keatin had poo-pooed on her leg. :)

Keatin in her 2nd outfit at grandma's party... She has been pooping all over her clothes almost on a daily basis - AAHH! :)

Sunday morning, Grandpa Barber came over to my parent's house to see Keatin one more time before we headed back to Ames...

Keatin is "growing into" her Exersaucer... We tried it again last night, and she was more "in tune" with the toys/lights/gadgets! As you can see, we still have to prop her with a big blanket... :)

First Weekend Away...

SO - Josh and I took the plunge this weekend and went out of town overnight WITHOUT Keatin! Jen and Joey had a housewarming party in Omaha - we went to a CU BB game in the afternoon, and then partied at their house last night. Grandma and Grandpa Petersen came to Ames to take care of Keatin...and everything went absolutely fine besides she pooped through 3 outfits while we were gone! :) We are back now, and both Josh and I had to give her LOTS Of hugs when we got here...although Crimson showed the most enthusiasm at our return. :) Keatin is growing and changing everyday and Josh told Jen/Joey today that "everyone needs to have a girl." :) (So cute!) We look forward to the holiday week/weekend with Thanksgiving...will be the first time we have traveled with Keatin since September! Hope you enjoy the pics!

Keatin is rolling over!!!!!!

Look what mommy, daddy, and Crimson witnessed for the 1st time tonight - Keatin rolled over! We are SO proud!

Dancing at Hilton!

Company Again... :)

We had another fun-filled weekend at the Barber house! On Friday night, Aunt Bri stopped by on her way to Cedar Falls to see Keatin and to cut my hair/Josh's hair. Then on Saturday, our friends from KC (Bryan, Erika, & their son Parker) came up to Iowa for a visit! Parker was born on June 10, so is about 2 months older than Keatin...and he is adorable!

Josh put together the exersaucer and we put Keatin in it for the first time...she is still a bit small for it, but Parker LOVED it...so he broke it in for us. :)




ISU had a men's exhibition BB game on Saturday afternoon, so we bundled up the babies and went for a few hours...Keatin's 1st ISU BB game! She seemed to enjoy it and spent most of the time looking at the flashing lights on the billboards. (There is a video at the bottom of Keatin and dad "dancing" to the music at Hilton.) :)


Sunday morning, we just lounged around and the babies played...we are still fighting our colds...and Bryan, Erika, and Parker had colds...so we were one lively bunch - NOT!


Had to snap this picture of Keatin on Sunday afternoon...this is how I found her in her crib at naptime...yes, she is sucking on her thumb!


Keatin and Crimson laying around on Sunday night - they are quite the pair! :)

Halloween Weekend...

Our Halloween "weekend" started off a little snuffly as all 3 of us had snotty noses...and Keatin had a cough as well. She has been battling it for about a week...I would think it is no fun being a baby and having a bad cold. :( As the weekend went on, she seemed to be feeling some better...not coughing quite as much and not as much snot, but still just a bit sick. Daddy and Keatin took a snooze on the couch together Thursday night...



Friday morning, we got Keatin all decked out for Jessica's house (day care). She also had a pumpkin hat she wore, but we didn't put it on before this picture - SORRY! (Her onesie also said BABY'S 1ST HALLOWEEN.)


Daddy took all these pictures on Friday night in the backyard while I manned the front door and handed out candy. Keatin was the MOST ADORABLE cat in town! :)







Saturday afternoon, we went to Des Moines for a few hours to see Todd, Megan, and Troy. We hadn't seen them in quite awhile, and it was fun to see how Troy has changed. We aren't sure, but these 2 may have a romantic relationship developing... :)



Grandma Petersen came for a few hours on Sunday afternoon and got to see some of Keatin's smiles/giggles before she took a big nap.

Took this picture last night...Keatin having some tummy time on daddy's tummy. Josh said she had her head up a lot higher but by the time I got the camera out, she had been doing this for about 5 minutes already. :)

Hopefully we can all beat our colds this week...I am feeling really run down and it is only 930 on Monday morning!

Smiles for Dad...

Weekend fun...

Another eventful weekend at the Barbers... We had friends in town for the ISU/Texas A & M game (or should I say the tailgating that went on before/during/after the game). :) Aaron, Trish, and their son Lane were here...as well as 2 other friends from high school - Matt and Keith (and Keith's wife Nicole). It was a gorgeous day to be outside, and Trish/Lane and Keatin/me went down for 2 hours...the boys were there from about 1130 am - 830 pm. :)

We also busted out the Bumbo seat for the first time...and Keatin did really well in it! We will have to use it more often!