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...

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!