Barnes Boys - Where They At!

oh this boy...nobody could love him more than me...and he couldn't get under anyone else's skin like mine either. this boy is so much like me it is infuriating! i have been reading this book - very insightful - all about different temperaments based on their driving NEED. i realized a lot of the parts about the temperament i relate most to speak to men more...which is why i am grateful bryson got some of my temperament - i think it is better suited on a man...just need to work on tempering his temperament.
he is doing awesome at kindergarten. his is turning out to be a little math whiz...who knew? his teacher has only wonderful things to say about him, which makes me both grateful and jealous...and he just performed in his first play! he brought home the drama club form and declared he wanted to be in the school play and that i needed to turn it in so he could get a t-shirt. he was a munchkin in their school performance of "Yellow Brick Road" - he wasn't nervous and did so great! he keeps asking when he can be in his next play...i told him he is currently in baseball and golf and he is going to have to wait till next year...i would love to put him in everything, but goodness - soon bodie is going to start team sports and the feeling that we will be taxi drivers is hitting me all too soon.
he starts baseball practice next week and his games start next month - he is sooooo excited. he tries to practice everyday, but Bodie isnt the best pitcher...yet!

Speaking of Bodie...this little clown is starting to come out of his shell...it is soooo funny to us! just today one of the teachers at his pre-school said that she had to interview him for this "about me" page and said that he blew her away with how smart he was. i have to be honest...it was such a relief to hear someone say that! i have been a little worried because he is so much less talkative and expressive than bryson was at his age. i don't always know how much he comprehends and how much he is just playing me....i am tending to think its the latter these days.
the trick to him is getting him away from bryson - who has a tendency to speak for him...a lot! the other day bodie was helping me make banana bread and was asking me about every process i did...and also explaining to me why i was doing what i was doing. i was so shocked...i didn't even know he could speak as well as he was. is that weird? i think so...i think it is a good indication i need to spend some more solo time with my fellow middle child!
in other news...this little boy has been such a terror this week...some of the things he has done include: taking out every food in the bottom half of the fridge and tossing them around the living room - turkey in the rug, about 10 apples all with one bite in them thrown everywhere...italian sausage on the couch...you get the picture...also - he took off every sheet and every pillow in their bedroom and made a huge pile in the living room - he likes to dump the contents of his toy box on top of all of this as well....he rarely gets spanked, but this week i think a day has not passed where a spanking did not occur. again...its the whole playing us thing...like when we tell him to pick up he tries to look at us all blankly like he had no idea what we said...then will try to go to the bathroom and hope we forget what we told him...or take his sweet precious time to pick up his trains...but we are onto you bodie! i had forgotten just how fun the "threes" are...oh goodness...i am so thankful we only have to do it one more time...

and speaking of one more time...this little guy has been bodie's accomplice. he has also been torturing bodie endlessly. he will just walk up to him and smack him in the head. if bodie is anywhere near me...especially if he is on my lap...bobby flips out. pushes him. smacks him. he has a smacking problem actually. i am at a loss as to how to stop him. you name it we have probably done it to get him to stop. he doesnt care. he is going to smack you and you are not gunna like it. 

he has been under the weather for the last couple of weeks and demands me to hold him like every second basically. lets just say when his bedtime comes around, i have been doing a little happy dance. but today he seems to be coming around...he seems to be doing much better and getting back to his sweet (and not constantly crying) self. 

the thing that is hardest with bobby is that he does not care to walk - the boy RUNS and does so in whatever opposite direction of you. you have to have your eyes on him AT ALL TIMES. the other day dropping off bryson, bobby was right behind me. i took my eyes off of him for literally 10 seconds and when i looked around i spotted him clear across the playground...i dont think i could have made it that far in 10 seconds...when i got to him he was still running from me so fast...little booger! so little man has been exhausting us lately and if we go anywhere not fenced in...we face this problem...again...so happy this is the last one in this stage...bitter-sweet...but both bryan and i are very happy with our decision to not populate the earth with more barnes boys.. :) 

parenting adventures

i have been on many an adventure in my life...sky-diving...hiking the alps...traveling across Europe...riding an elephant...traveling through the monkey forest in Bali...but none of it comes close to the experiences i have had parenting. although not quite the same thrill one gets jumping out of a plane...parenting has been this different extreme...this physical extreme...this emotional extreme...this sometimes claustrophobic extreme.

my little sister is pregnant...i think she is having an emotional go at it and was trying to seek solace in me...i couldnt offer her any fluff...i just told her not to come to me unless she wants the truth...i will encourage her, but i aint gunna lie! its hard...but at the same time, i wish i had someone telling me that...i wish i had someone tell me how dangerous it is to expect things to get easier. i wish i wouldn't have wasted time getting angry at my child waking me up...because my friends kids all slept through the night. i wish i would have had someone tell me...you wont sleep for 2 years. get over it. accept it. deal. and stop whining. stop it...seriously. stop. you will sleep again...just not now so quit saying you are tired. we get it.

that was future me yelling at past me. did you get that? it was really funny to me...anyway...i could keep having these conversations with former me...but we are moving on...aren't we?

there are times when i get this claustrophobic feeling...this overwhelming sense of my responsibilities as a parent...its almost like a physical weight and the obvious becomes heightened... I HAVE THREE KIDS!!! becomes all too suddenly apparent...like i just realized the implication of it all. like they just all of the sudden appeared in my life...but its more than that...its more like...THEY AREN'T LEAVING!...kind of like when you first get married...and it starts to hit you that the other person will never go away, but not in a comforting way...more like an OMG...I WILL NEVER BE ALONE AGAIN...EVER!!! kinda terrifying way - did that ever happen to you? me either...just kidding...it did...does...whatever.

but like i was saying...only when i start to fathom the responsibility...the potential for disaster and human-ness. we are going to open a trust for our boys and i joke with my husband that they will have a choice at 18 to use it for college or therapy...but i am only kinda joking...because i feel like how can we not mess them up somehow?

doing the Jesse Tree during Advent season was so special for our little family. it got me thinking all about my faith...it got me thinking how our faith was presented to us as children by our parents...it got me thinking how to present God's truth and Word to our kids...it got me too introspective...i feel like i can not possibly share with them the Word when i am such a poor example of it all. when my faith is so weak...as evidenced by my self-obsessed claustrophobic moments...

i have had some amazing discussions with friends and family in the past couple of months - i find myself again on an adventure. a journey to discover where my faith fits in now. a journey on how to present that to my kids through not just my words but my everyday actions. i haven't had to really take a hard look at what i believe since college. i am realizing i haven't thought too much about myself in the past 6 years - which is both the best thing for me and the worst simultaneously.

i am thankful during this adventurous time in my life i have a lot of support in my church family, and physical family and friends. it can be so isolating if you let it. it can be so hard to not be isolated...but so necessary. it can be the biggest thrill and adventure of them all...but at times the most difficult trek you have ever undertaken...and perhaps the most debilitating part of it is that you cant turn back...there is no option...just press on and teach grace to your children and hopefully they will extend that to you one day.

i am also thankful for this little blog and the ability to share it all with you guys...and for your feedback - not always here, but in conversations, in emails, etc...it helps to share this burden with friends and family - it helps in the connectedness of it all...because we are...we should be...we need to be. i need to be. thank you.

Bodie - you are Three!

i think the fact that i am nearly a month late on this post is testament to my stage in life right now. 

the good thing is...doing a birthday post a month later gives me time to create some good hindsight.

some hindsight things i picked up...

1. having a birthday the day before Christmas is not the easiest to understand for a newly three year old

2. maybe spacing out the birthday celebration longer than a week would be good

3. maybe spacing that out AFTER Christmas would be best - gives him time to tire of his Christmas bounty

okay...onto my baby boy turning 3!!!

Bodie is my little cuddle bug...but if i tell him that he tells me, "I'm not a bug...I'm a Bodie!" and he is so correct...he IS indeed a Bodie...i think we did pretty well in naming him (and the other as well) as far as fitting his temperament. He is very calm - when you have him alone he is a completely different boy than when he is with his brothers. he doesn't mind being alone...playing with his trains and cars for hours. he is content with quiet and cuddling.

with bryson his little goof ball comes out - he wrestles and chases and runs and (destroys) plays pretend and rides bikes and gets that side of him nurtured too.

i think it is so good that he has so many different types of people in his family - makes for a nice well rounded little man! 

right now bodie is talking more than ever...in his adorable deep little raspy voice. he is starting to reason and process and be a little bit bossier than he has been (especially toward bobby) but part of me is happy that he isn't a push-over...he can stand his ground.

he is growing SO FAST! he is only 3 pounds lighter than Bryson - at 39 pounds...his shoe size is almost an 11 (he wears an 11 half the time) - bryson wears a 12.5 - and he is wearing 3T and 4T (which i just transferred over from Bryson's drawers) - he is quickly catching up to Bryson...which i keep reminding him whenever Bryson takes Bodie down...he is just gunna have to learn that one the hard way! not gunna be pretty...

Bodie is in pre-school and LOVES it...loves his teacher, loves his class. he has been asking me every day last semester to stay for lunch, so i made the change this month and he loves it. and they get him to eat everything some-how, so its a win win in my book! one less battle a day? sold! 

i love this boy so much. i can't wait to see how he begins seeing the world this year and all the things he begins to learn. i am loving his new independence - dressing himself (almost entirely) and buckling his car seat...i am more than thankful he still likes to climb in bed with me for some snuggles. makes a mama happy! Happy Birthday Bodie! sorry your birthday kinda gets overlooked...but i hope to make it extra special each year to make up for it!

Love you Bodie Bo!

Christmas Eve 2011

i just got my camera back (i had left it that night at my Aunt's) but i wanted to do a little re-cap on our holidays. we take turns every year with my husbands family and mine celebrating the holidays, and this year was my family's year for Christmas. we drove down to Escondido to my Aunt and Grandma and Grandpa's houses for Christmas Eve.

I grew up down the street from my Grandma and Grandpa and across the street from my Aunt and Uncle, so our family is pretty close. it was fun to have our kids play with my cousin's kids and think about us at their age...in the first pic you can see my cousin Danny's little boy Phoenix - who is just a couple months younger than Bodie.

i feel like the whole evening i was chasing after my boys and trying to keep them from destroying everything. i always get a little anxious taking all 3 into someone's house who doesn't have kids because bobby will destroy something/anything if given the opportunity...he is amazing at it...genius really...his artistry of destruction knows no bounds. so bryan and i took turns herding cats...it gets a little exhausting...especially when i want to catch up with cousins i see once a year...oh well - i guess its only a couple more years of this and then i will be whining about how big they are...

so we had dinner and then headed over to my Aunt's to meet Santa and have dessert and open presents. My cousin Danny was duped into volunteered to play Santa and my kids all had very different reactions.

Bodie was a little non-plussed

Bryson was embarrassed and excited but told me it couldnt have been the real Santa because his beard was too shiny.

Bobby was like...who the hek are you?

Bobby got the most annoying awesome guitar

and the biggest highlight of the night was when Santa pulled out the last present that was addressed to: Baby Guinta - everyone started screaming and hugging and we are all overjoyed to know a little baby Guinta will be joining the family in July! I have known for a little over the month and if you know me...you know its really hard for me to keep something like that a secret...i have told a couple grocery store clerks..."My sister is pregnant!!" and they would look at me quizzically, but i had to tell someone...now i can share my excitement with everyone else! 

Such a wonderfully warm, sweet evening...i love my family and love the traditions we started so long ago - i am glad my boys are able to share in some of that love and meet their Great Grandparents and Great Aunts and Uncles and the people who have helped shape my life and mean so much to me. Christmas season is a good excuse for all that to happen!