early b-day celebration

Grandpa Barber has a BIG birthday coming up in a few days...it is a BIG one...but he doesn't want to talk about it...so SHHHH. :)

G & G Barber came to Ames on Sunday for a few hours for an early celebration...they are leaving town and heading to Arizona on Grandpa's real birthday. Josh made steaks for lunch and we baked a pineapple-upside-down cake for dessert. We just kind of hung out and played...and Josh and his mom/dad went shopping while Keatin was napping and Will was wide awake. :) It was a good day!




And saw this online today...gave me a chuckle. :)

just had to :)

I knew I had a picture of both of my sweeties the 1st time I plopped them in the highchair/did cereal. SO...do they look like siblings, or not? :)

WILL

KEATIN

birthday - playing - cereal

Got a few things to catch up on here!

Grandma Petersen's birthday was last Friday...and on Sunday, we arranged a little surprise visit for her! Our family friend, Kathy, lives in Carroll...so Keatin, Will, and I headed to Carroll on Sunday morning...and dad convinced mom that Kathy had some surprise for her in Carroll...and when they pulled up, Keatin greeted Grandma at the door! You should have seen her face! :) It was fun to surprise her, and I hope she enjoyed her "present" of playing with Keatin and Will for a few hours. :)




Thursday night, Josh was out for beers with friends, so Keatin, Will, and I were just playing at home. Keatin wanted in on these pictures...didn't she do a good job smiling? :)






Dr. Paschen gave us the go-ahead for trying cereal with Will...so last night when Josh was at the gym, Keatin and I decided to drag the high chair upstairs (OK - I drug it up the stairs with one arm, Will in the other arm), wipe it down, and see what Will thought! He LOVED it! Now...on to the actual eating of the cereal...he did pretty darn good for his first go-round! Whatever I actually got in his mouth (I made it SO runny), he swallowed...no gagging, no spitting. I qualify Will's 1st attempt at cereal a success!

BEFORE the cereal... :)

MMM...MMM...

My forever helper, helping again! :)



The cereal session ended with Will eating his bib. Ha!

Our babysitter called in sick yesterday, so Josh was home with the kids. When I got home from work, he had gotten these pretty spring flowers at the store! I love them!

Although the weather is COLD today, last weekend was beautiful and we spent lots of time outside playing! Here are 2 videos of my little lady. :)

will (4 months)

Will - you are 4 months old today!

Daddy took you to the doctor this morning for your 4 month well-baby check. You weighed in at 15 pounds, 5 ounces and measured 25.5 inches long (or at least that is what daddy thinks...he didn't bring home the sheet the nurses write on). :)

I looked back at Keatin's stats from 4 months...she was 14 pounds and 24.5 inches long. I knew you were a bigger boy!

At 4 months...
You wear around 6 months clothes...most 3-6 month stuff is too small and honestly, a variety of 6-9 or 9 month stuff practically fits! AAAHHH!
You wear size 2 diapers.
You eat 6 times a day.
I don't really know what "sleeping through the night" means...but you basically do that. I usually feed you around 9 pm, then lay you down. Most nights we don't hear you fuss before 4 am...last night we didn't hear you until 6 am. And at those times, a pacifier and blanket by your cheek usually put you right back to sleep.
I think we can officially say you don't show signs of colic anymore.
You have figured out how to pull your pacifier out of your mouth.
Your fine motor skills between your hands and your mouth are starting to become more coordinated.
Your neck muscles are becoming stronger and you are able to rotate your head both directions, not just to the right anymore.
You have pretty strong head control. Now we will work on the trunk muscles. :)
You LOVE grabbing fingers, rattles, and toys.
You enjoy playing under your baby gym, in the exersaucer, in your bouncy seat...but better than any of these may be watching, playing with, and talking to your sister. :)
You have big smiles and we call you our "smily boy." :)
You are our little man and we l-o-v-e you!!!!

:: happy birthday grandma ::

Happy Birthday Grandma Petersen! We love you VERY much!

reading

Last night, Keatin was BUSY BUSY reading to me. Josh secretly caught some on camera. Oh - she makes my heart smile. :)

the weekend...

...was great! Josh worked Saturday morning but besides that, we really had nothing going on...which was nice. :) We watched Jack for awhile on Saturday while Becca/Lyle went golfing, headed to church Saturday night, and ordered in/watched NCAA basketball. Today...we ENJOYED the weather! The garage got cleaned up, about 67 loads of laundry were done, we got groceries, got our passport photos taken (FYI - Josh and Megan are going to Jamacia in July!!!), and just hung out as a fam. :) I am EXHAUSTED - hope to get some good sleep tonight!

Keatin helped daddy in the garage...and found a variety of swimming items/flotation devices. Anyone ready for summer? :)

SO nice today...but Will doesn't love the bright sunlight. Solution...swing in the garage. :) He fell asleep. :)

After Keatin's nap, we went out for a walk. Got Will this cute summer hat last week. :)

While Josh was making supper and I was putting away the 3,000 clean laundry items...this is where I found Miss Keatin...



Remember the sensory tub full of beans??? Still a hit at our house...but tonight we switched out the beans for cotton balls.

Hmmm... :)


My family...why am I never in any of these pictures???? :)