Crazy Bobby

also wanted to share this video bryan took of Bobby...normal pre-bedtime behavior...

Bodie Reading

i am long overdue on some posting...been kinda sorta a little busy...can you ever imagine why? but i wanted to share this video i snapped the other night of Bodie reading his favorite book. Enjoy!

Barnes Boys - Where They At!

so...bryson got stung again. i stopped counting, but i think its number 8 or 9...the last time he got stung the swelling didnt stop and spread and he developed a fever, so i took him in to get a shot and that is when my sister gave me the epi-pen. Sometimes i am grateful to myself for blogging our little life moments...for instance, i was able to go back and see exactly when bryson got stung last because i remember posting it here. this is helpful because i am needing to know when to renew the epi-pen. 

so...part of me is glad that this happened. firstly, i have been refusing to believe that bryson is allergic. partly because that is scary and partly because i felt like his hand swelled up like that because the sting got infected, not because of the reaction. so this was a little test for me. 

oh...this time he got stung while playing in his baseball game. the bee got stuck in his shirt. that stinks. he cried for a little (and i made sure he was okay) and then finished out the game (with me checking on him every 5 minutes or so). he is a tough little dude. 

so back to the allergies. i started doing some internet research...and all the "medical" websites, like webmd, etc - say one thing about bee stings...and then i started looking at bee-keeper websites, because they should know, right? its interesting. bryson has been stung so many times and never had any type of reaction until now. i just find that odd. if you are allergic, shouldnt you always be allergic? it didnt make sense to me, but one sight i read was saying that its a process of our bodies building up an immunity toward bee stings. but also i have read that if a person has an allergic reaction, they tend to get worse with each subsequent sting. i think he has a mild allergy to bee stings, and unless he gets stung on the neck (which i am totally not discounting with bryson) he should be okay without intervention.

it seems like there is some debate about bee sting allergies, but i do feel much better that he survived this sting without much intervention (i did give him an antihistimine, but i dont think it helped). the last experience was so traumatic, i would have hated to have to take him in again. this picture is of the sting 2 days later. looking MUCH better...i should have photographed it on Sunday...but i fretted over him all weekend. 

in other bryson news, he is becoming quite the reader. i am so proud of him! i helped out in his classroom last week and was just blown away by all the kids and how much they know...and how his teacher can get 30 five and six year olds to learn how to read this fast. amazing! bryson is also playing baseball and loving it. although he doesnt want to play outfield anymore because of the bees.  he is also in golf - bryan took him out to a par 3 course a week or so ago and he played his best round ever. He got his second birdie! Bryan also took him to watch a PGA round of golf and he got a hat signed by his favorite Rickie Fowler, and also KJ Choi and Phil Mickelson. Pretty cool beans.

here is BOBBY! dude. this kid. is. crazy. CRAZY. i love this picture because i think you can tell there is no holding him back. from anything. the other day i had to wrestle him into a stroller and i swear there were like 10 people watching me with an open jawed expression, like what is she doing to that poor child...i wanted to be like, "people...this is for his safety...it may look like i am being rough, but this little dude has some super strength...move along now" but of course i didnt say anything...just wrestled my screaming kicking wriggling toddler into the stroller and tried to maintain a teaspoon of grace. 

he got his first bloody nose on sunday. which i am frankly surprised it took so long. this kid hurts himself at least 10 times on a good day...mainly from falling while running. and he doesnt ever walk...so there is that. 

sometime i put him in his crib when i get so overwhelmed with him hurting himself...i just need him to be safe somewhere. it usually happens around his bedtime because he gets clumsy when he is sleepy. this kid though. i know he is going to be the snowboarder/skater/surfer type...i just know it...and i will then bury myself under a blanket praying incessantly for his safety for 10 years. somebody mentioned something to me about when they are old enough to drive and my heart fell straight into my stomach and i told them to please shut up. the thing is that i dont feel like i am a big worrier...but this last one has just turned me into a worrying mess. its actually something i have a lot of prayer against because i know its not from God. i am also trying to talk sense into myself that this is as bad as its gunna get (until the teen years i'm sure)

on a happier note - there is no kid as joyous as Bobby. he is full of life and joy and if you play with him you just made a best friend. he is starting to talk and interact more and that is both exciting and annoying, since his favorite word is, of course, NO!

bodie o. bodie is very much a 3 year old. he is very much a mama's boy right now. not complaining. at least i have one of the three that like me :) he gets about 3-4 time outs a day. usually for hurting bobby. bobby and him are not BFFs quite yet. bodie is also learning so much at school - numbers and colors and letters. i did a 24 piece puzzle with him the other day (6 times in a row) and each time i was blown away by his skills. he is talking a lot more and telling stories and i think he is surprising most people that he can, in fact, talk. he won't do it unless he knows you, but if you get him going - man. he will tell you all about the monster truck rally and who all the monster trucks are...that is his favorite subject you know! 

last night bryson slept over at his friend's house and bodie was quite upset. they have been sharing a bed most nights and bodie was bummed his buddy wasn't there. it was super cute - they have a special little thing going. 

i think a lot of times i am just amazed at how different bodie is from bryson. and bobby. i think its just amazing that they all 3 came from the same 2 people and have such different temperaments. at this age bryson was super into sports already, and bodie is very ho-hum about it all. he is also shy where bryson is outgoing with a capital going...he will play activities by himself for 30 minutes or more at a time where bryson would never sit still. i love each of them and all their crazy so much!

i am looking forward to some girl time next month - my sister and SIL are taking my mama to New York for  3 nights...it will be my first time away by myself (for longer than 1 night) since i have had bryson. i am very grateful for this - not just for the time i get to spend with my sisters and mom, but also for a little break. this mama could use about a day worth of massages...

you know...bryan and i were talking last night. we are both so grateful to have the problems of being tired because we run around with them all day. we are grateful that they can run. we are grateful that we can both play with them and know their little personalities so fully. we complain about it...of course...but we are truly and deeply and profoundly grateful. we know so many families who would give anything for the problems we have...who would give anything so their son could play baseball...who long for their child to be independent one day, and who most likely will never be. we are not ignorant of that. i think keeping a grateful heart has been my challenge for myself this year, because it is hard for negative thoughts to reside in a grateful heart. all this to say that sometimes i rant...because partly writing is a release for me...but this ranting is housed within a rooted gratefulness and love. i just want to make sure that comes out too :) 

Big Bear - Our First Family Vacation

so far the best family pic in that we are all kind of looking at the camera...

bryson so excited to get to go on his own!

look...5 faces again!

the bridge across big bear lake

snowball fight with the only real snow in all of big bear

my gang of boys

this was bryan's jacket when he was little :)

getting a jacket on this boy was almost as hard as getting him to be still for a photo

he was saying, "CHEESE"

well...this was our first family vacation...alone...just our family, with no other objective than to hang out somewhere different as a family.

some thoughts on the matter...

you know...when bryan and i were first married...we were kinda young (22) and it all seemed so silly that we were married...whenever we called each other "husband" or "wife" or "Mrs. Barnes" it all seemed giggly and funny...i think until we were married 3 or 4 years...or maybe when we had Bryson even.  Then we had our first child...but i didn't feel like a parent until he was around 3 and i had to PARENT him...when there was that definitive shift from the physicality of parenting (changing diapers, feeding, bathing) to the emotional/mental realm (punishing, potty training, etc)...and then we completed our family, but i guess it took a trip like this to really feel like our own family...our own little unit...and it felt good. so good.

i think traveling has been this headache because we generally stay with other people...have things on the agenda to do, but this time was different - we could totally do our thing and not worry about stepping on toes or obligations, or...anything!

i know this all seems like, duh! maybe...but this was big to me. i love our families...i mean love...but i did get this realization on this trip that sometimes it is important to remember that we deserve some time together too. time to just play with our kids and not have to be at some sporting event...time to be silly and spontaneous and not have to go in the office...time to be together - all of us- for an entire weekend...so good! i love this little family of mine.

the kids did awesome and even though there wasn't much snow, the little they did see was SOOO exciting. every time we got in the car, bodie would chant, "snow, snow, snow". we took them tubing on saturday and it was a big thrill for the boys...well...the big boys at least. bryan and i took turns taking bobby on the little hill, while the other went down the big one with bodie...bryson got to ride solo and boy was he happy about that! he must have gone down 12 times...and this is a big hill people...and fast...every time we went down with bobby he gripped us like he was about to die and chanted, "no, no, NO!" but then would laugh every time going down the hill. the anticipation i guess. so we only made him do it like 18 times. hopefully he isnt scarred or anything...

like i had mentioned...there was not a lot of snow, but i wasn't complaining too much because as my family all knows, i am a big baby when it comes to the cold. but this trip i FINALLY got me some snow pants and snow boots...i know...makes it a little easier to play in the snow when you have those two things. i still dont have a jacket, but i can make do until i find one on sale :)

there were all these things i wanted to do on our trip and for some reason our scheduling all worked out kinda perfect to be able to do it all...i guess that is what happens when its just you too...you get to do what you want :) i made sure to have a fire every night, hot cocoa and popcorn, perfect pancakes and some reading time even got snuck in too since bobby took an epic nap. it was truly lovely and i hope that we take the time (and money) to do this every year in some way...