Disney On Ice

As a special treat to our big girl, Josh and I decided it would be fun to take Keatin to Disney on Ice at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines on Saturday night. THANK YOU to G & G Petersen for watching Will for us...it really was just SO fun to do something specifically for Keatin and just with Keatin. Can't speak for Josh, but I had the most fun just watching the show through her eyes...seeing what made her smile and made her laugh...but maybe that is the mom in me. :)

Keatin has a history of not loving big arenas (EX: UNI Dome or Hilton Coliseum). I was relieved that after a few minutes of hesitation, she was smiling and good to go! Check out her grin in the next 3 pictures!



And the show begins... We saw Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy...

Scenes from Alice in Wonderland...

Peter Pan...

And Josh's favorite of the whole show - Lion King...


We saw Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs for awhile...

Then on to my favorite, Aladdin...



The Little Mermaid...


And the moment Keatin was waiting for the WHOLE show...Rapunzel & Flynn Rider from Tangled. :)


The show closed with ALL the Disney Princesses/Princes!



And a few video clips I took over the course of the night!


SO much fun...I think I will always remember the joy in Keatin's eyes and on her face. :)

x-mas decorating [with a 1-year-old] :)

Before I even get to the Christmas decorating, look what my sweet Keatin brought home from preschool. When I showed it back to her and asked her what it was, she said "I made that turkey and I really love my mommy!" (Validation to me that she must have really said it and her teacher didn't just write it on there...right?) :) This is hanging on my kitchen cabinet...I just had to put it up. Daddy was a bit disgruntled when he saw the picture... :)


OK - Christmas decorating. :) Josh had to work all day on Black Friday and I was NOT going shopping with my 2 "helpers" in tow...so we just kind of hung around the house all day...which was fine since Keatin was still feeling under the weather from having the stomach flu while we were in Storm Lake for Thanksgiving. Yeah, not fun at all.

Decorating for Christmas takes on a whole new meaning when you have an almost one year old around/"helping." I honestly didn't even know if we should put the trees up this year, but Josh called me a Grinch and told me we were putting them up. :) And so we did! I convinced Keatin to get off the couch and help me hang up only unbreakable ornaments on the tree.

At first, Will was just sitting on the floor playing with the tubs of Christmas items...but once I turned the lights on, he was VERY interested in the tree. :) It is close enough to a chair in our living room that he can balance himself on the chair and still "investigate" the tree.


Once we had the tree up, it was time to try for a cute picture...I don't think we did too bad!!!




Hmmm...until we tried the solo cute pictures...this is what I got from Will. (I know, I know - so wrong, but makes me laugh so hard.) :)

Here is a good one!

Back to the dilemma of decorating with a one year old who pulls EVERYTHING off shelves and tables that he can reach...where to put the Christmas stockings when you don't have a fireplace mantel to put them on??? How about really high up??? Like in a doorway!!


We also got the tree put up in our basement, so the Barber residence is officially bursting with Christmas cheer! :)

And just because it was cute...her is a short video of my dancing boy. :)

just because...

...I don't get to compare my two wearing the same clothes very much...or I guess next to never!
...even though people STILL ask us who Will looks like, we know that in a lot of ways he looks like his big sister.

When I put this shirt on Will the other day, I knew Keatin wore it several times the Christmas she was 16-17 months old...and I found the blog post that proves it! Click here if you want to check out Keatin sporting the PEANUTS X-mas onesie. I had fun looking at both my cuties in the same shirt! :)

[1st haircut]

Will is getting his 1-year pictures taken next week...and of course, he needs to look all handsome...thus, it was time for a haircut! He had a few long pieces on top and behind his left ear, a really long patch that was starting to curl up and look a bit girly at times. :) (Don't worry little man - we still loved ya!)

Aunt Bri did a great job trimming our handsome boy up on Thanksgiving morning. Will tolerated his trim quite well, although he kept batting at the back of his head like "what is that thing tickling me?" :) SO...Will's little patch/curls are now in a Ziploc baggie, waiting to be put in his baby book. :) Will - you are all grown up!


Pre-haircut...evidence of the long patch of hair behind his left ear. :)

Ready, set, cut as fast as you can!!!

All done big boy! :)

J&J...and giggles :)

Keatin's BFFs (aka - Jen & Joey) were here over the weekend. Joey, Jen, Josh, and Lyle went to the Creighton/Iowa BB game at Wells Fargo on Sunday...go Jays! :) I think the most "exciting" thing we did while Jen & Joey were here was go to church...but we always have a great time with them, and I LOVE the way Keatin...and now Will...love playing with them!

Jen & Joey, Keatin & Will...just chilling on the couch. :)

And just a few giggles from our Will-man to brighten your Tuesday morning!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

spoon - slide - sneaking

Happy Sunday! It was a NICE weekend at the Barber residence. :) Here are a few of the things we were up to!

Although Josh thought I was crazy, I gave Will some pudding and a spoon on Friday. Lately, I have been feeling like Will is the poor 2nd child who doesn't get all the attention to detail and utter devotion that Keatin did at this age...which I know makes TOTAL sense (duh, we have 2 now)...must just be some mommy-guilt or something. :) ANYWAYS, back to the spoon...I felt like I let Keatin dig in with a spoon the summer before she was one...so decided it was time for Will! He was a little hesitant at first, but did a pretty good job for his first go-round! Pics below. :)

Saturday afternoon, after naps and before church, we braved the cool weather (but not freezing cold weather) and headed to the "yellow slide" park (as Keatin calls it). Will also enjoys this park because he can throw itty-bitty rocks on the slide...or try to eat them when mom/dad aren't looking. :)

I don't know what it is about this picture...but we LOVE his cute little face!

As of today, Will has become my sneaky boy too! I re-arranged the furniture a bit in our living room yesterday, and Will realized he can SQUEEZE himself between the couch and side table...and he kept trying to sneak back there! The 1st few times were cute...then he realized how to tangle himself in the lamp cord. HMMM...not so cute. :)