..::Barrett: 9 Month Stats::..

Barrett had his 9 month check up with Dr. Swanson this morning. Here are his stats:

23.5 lbs (95th percentile)

30" tall (98th percentile)

46.5 cm head circumference (95th percentile)

Healthy and Happy!!

..::Barrett: 9 Months::..

NINE months!!! You know what that means?????.....only three months left of buying formula!!!

Wooooooooooooooohooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm not excited, so don't think I am!!! :-)

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What's been goin' on this past month??

*started waving - December 20th

*got 2nd tooth (bottom right central) - December 24th

(he got his two front teeth just in time for Christmas!!)

*experienced his FIRST Christmas

*stands up in crib (which is now how we find him each time we go in to get him) - Dec 29th

*starts clapping his hands - January 6th (does this ALL the time now)

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We have his 9 month checkup on Friday so I'll have to update his stats at that time. I'm guessing though that he's weighing in around 26 lbs!! I just cannot get enough of our little man. I seriously love. having. a. boy! LOVE it! I love my girls too, don't get me wrong....but there's just something different about having a boy, despite the obvious. :-) Maybe because after two girls it IS just that, different! Whatever it is, I just want to squeeze and smooch him all day long. He has a special hold on my heart and seriously can do no wrong in my eyes. I know I'm in trouble...he's going to be that crazy, tantrum-throwing 2 year old and I'll just say, it's okay, have whatever you want! Hahaha...okay, not REALLY, but that's how I feel at this point. He could ask me for a car for his 1st birthday and I'd buy him a real one. Lol...needless to say, I adore him! And what's even better, he absolutely, 100% adores his mama! I am sooooo the favorite. Even though, when daddy comes home from work, if he doesn't pick Barrett up within seconds, he's crying like we chopped his arm off...he still prefers mommy 99.9% of the time. :-) Oh goodness...I could go on and on (and on) about all the cute, adorable things about Bubba...but I'll spare you all!

Sufficeth to say, we all love him so much! He pretty much has each one of us (his sisters included) wrapped around his chubby little fingers!

Childhood Reminder

Do you remember Fun Dips? I sure do! I remember riding my brown, banana-seat bike from my house, down the road, to the little convenience store to spend my hard earned (or hard found) money on this sugary confection! There was something about dipping a stick of hard candy into colored sugary powder. And having my tongue and lips turn crazy colors...so much fun!

So fast forward almost 30 years and my kids happened to come across some of these Fun Dips! It sure took me back...especially seeing the absolute delight on their faces!

Today is Barrett's 9 month and since I always take his picture to document this milestone, the girls have gotten into the routine of wanting to get their picture taken too. I thought today's pictures were too cute not to share. I sure love these girls! (*said through clenched teeth as I sit listening to one said girl throw a complete fit as I write this!!)

Get yer Motor Runnin'...

...Head out on the Highway!!!

I think he's ready to hit the open road, don't you??!!!

Mr. Barrett is L.O.V.I.N.G. his new found freedom. Crawling, pulling up on things, cruising around furniture....life is goooooood for him these days!! He can quite often be found hangin' out under the table, like so:

And he loves it! He gets that big smile on his face and you know he thinks he's such a big kid!

Oh how we love this boy!!

Snow in Arizona

There are many fabulous reasons to live in Tucson...but one benefit for Kevin and the kids is that Tucson is located at the base of Mt. Lemmon and during the winter, Mt. Lemmon receives a fair bit of snow. I would be completely fine to never see snow again in my lifetime...heaven knows I've experienced my fair share of the fluffy white stuff. But Kevin and the kids think it's great to check it out once in awhile. Where they get these crazy ideas, I'll never know!! :-)

Anywho, so we headed up to Mt. Lemmon since we could still see white at the top of the mountain from our house and Alexa has been asking and asking (and asking) to go play in the snow. And then they played in it for all of about 10 minutes! Oh well, at least they got to experience it, and we did have a fun day as a family!

A Whole New World...

Now that standing has been achieved...a whole new world has opened up to Bubba Man!

{Mortenson Family Christmas}

Today was our Mortenson Family Christmas Party. We all met at Duane & Emily's house this morning. The kids had a great time playing spies and finding all the Reindeer. We had a yummy lunch, played at the park, opened presents, played some basketball, visited, had a yummy dinner, played some games and just had a great time spending the day with family!

{Christmas 2011}

We had a much lower-key Christmas this year thanks to the stomach bug hitting our house Friday night after getting home from seeing the lights at Winterhaven. Poor Payton was hit the hardest, followed by Alexa. Kevin and I both felt a little nauseous most of the day yesterday but thankfully Barrett seems unaffected at this point!!

In light of dealing with the pukeys, we didn't do our annual visit to the Desert Museum yesterday. :-( We stayed close to home and I kept my washing machine going constantly for almost 24 hours straight just to catch up with cleaning all the puked on clothes and bedding!! I know, you can't contain your jealousy! :-)

Anyways, the girls were feeling pretty good by the afternoon on Christmas Eve...looks like it was just a 12-hour kind of bug! Phew!! Being sick didn't take away any of the excitement of Christmas...they couldn't wait to open up their Christmas pj's.

Oh. My. Cuteness.

We (Kevin and I) managed to stay up late enough to find that Santa had snuck in without us knowing!!

He even left a note for the girls....they LOVED it!!

Christmas Morning....and ready to see what Santa brought them!

Opening their stockings...

Checking out the goods that Santa brought them in their stockings.

Time for presents!

We even had Grandma and Grandpa Mortenson over for lunch today! The girls couldn't wait to show Gramma what Santa brought for them!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Winterhaven Festival of Lights

There is a community here in Tucson called Winterhaven. With a name like that, it's only fitting that they go all out to decorate for the Christmas season, don't ya think??!! We went to check out this spectacular display of lights tonight and it did not disappoint. Despite the chilly night, it was fun to get out and walk around this neighborhood to see all the lights!

There was even a snow machine that the girls got a kick out of!

That's the kind of snow I can handle!! :-)

Awwwwww....if you can't tell, that is mistletoe that we're standing under!!

And I didn't even have to twist Kevin's arm to get this picture!!! (okay, maybe just a little!)

A Visit with the Jolly Big Guy...

I took the kids to visit Santa today at the mall. They were so excited to see him and talk to him and tell him all their wishes for Christmas this year. That is, until it was actually our turn...and then Payton didn't want to go anywhere near him, so I got to be in the picture for the 2nd year in a row!!

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Merry almost Christmas!!!

Daddy/Daughter Date

Payton got her very first official one-on-on date with daddy tonight. AND it was also her very first UofA Basketball Game. We were a little worried how she would do since the games are about 2 hours long, and she's only 2 1/2...but she lasted the entire game!! She kept her eye on Wilbur the Wildcat the whole time and enjoyed some popcorn...but best of all, she got daddy all to herself! Have I mentioned how happy it makes me to know that this is so important to Kevin...to establish these daddy/daughter relationships with his girls?!! I LOVE it! And I love how much they look forward to these dates with daddy! I hope it always is this way!

..::Barrett: 8 Months::..

8 Months!!

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The happenings for Bubba Man this past month:

*Sat up from crawling position - November 23rd

*Took forward crawling steps - November 30th

*Sat up in crib for first time - December 1st (he's now sitting up every time we go in to get him)

*CRAWLING!!!!! - December 5th

*Clicks tongue - December 10th (he finds this pretty funny when we do it back to him)

*Says "Ma-Ma" - December 10th

*Starts pulling himself up on things - December 15th

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So we're in major baby-proofing mode now that Barrett is a full-fledged crawler! He is like a little puppy....ANYthing he gets his hands on goes straight to his mouth! And now that he's pulling up on things, there's more to get into! It's so fun to see all the learning he's doing though. He is such a sweet, funny little boy!

Happy 8 Months Bubba!!!

Tubby Santas

I'm not usually one for posting pictures of the kiddos in the bathtub. HOWEVER, as they were giggling and splashing away tonight, I went in to make sure water wasn't all over the floor...and I found too little Santas playing in the tub! So I quickly handed them some washcloths for modesty and snapped a couple pictures! Pretty cute bubble beards, don't ya think??!!

Oh these girls make me laugh!!!

~Letters to Santa~

Today was our annual trek to Santa's special mailbox at the mall so the girls could send their letters to him. I think Payton actually gets it this year. Even though last year she was all about pointing out each and every Santa she saw and saying "ho, ho, ho" all the time...this year, she understands the whole concept of Santa, and being naughty or being nice, and the consequences of both.

We even started a new tradition called 'Elf on the Shelf' where an elf joins our family, we name it (ours is "Fizzy") and this elf sits on a shelf and SEES and HEARS what goes on each and every day. And each night, Fizzy reports back to Santa. The kids can't touch Fizzy or her magic goes away and she has to return to the North Pole forever. Part of the fun is finding where Fizzy comes back to each morning. The girls LOVE it and I have to say that it's helped in the behavior department....to a degree. At first, it was like a Christmas Miracle...it helped Payton stay in her bed at night for a full week straight. I think that novelty wore off already!! :-( But it's been great reminding the girls each and every day, sometimes MANY times a day, that Fizzy can hear them and do they REALLY want her to tell Santa how they're behaving?? Needless to say, it's a tradition we'll be keeping for as long as we can! We're already looking forward to Fizzy coming back next Christmas season!! Can she stay all year????? :-)

..::Barrett: Pulling Up::..

Our little Bubba man is now pulling himself up on things!! He actually started doing it yesterday but today is when we decided to document it on film!! Way to go Barrett!!!