~Lately~

WARNING: Picture overload, proceed at your own risk!!!

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Isn't this boy just the cutest thing? We were given several newborn sized outfits and are having to get them on him ASAP otherwise they won't fit!! This cute little number was given to him by his Aunt Emily and Uncle Duane...I think it'll be the only time he wears it!

We are loving having this little man in our home! He's such a good baby, we all just love him to bits. If you could see what's on his green onesie...it says "Am I really related to these people?" Isn't that true...I think we've all wondered that about our own family members from time to time!!! :-)

The girls love their baby brother. When we ask Payton his name, she says "Barrett" and we'll say, "his name is Barrett?" to which she adamantly responds, "NO...BABY!!" Or vice versa! She's having the hardest adjustment to a new baby in the house...it's not easy having to suddenly share mommy, more than she was already used to anyways, and by someone who takes up a LOT more of mommy's time!

He DOES occasionally open his eyes!!

I thought these pictures of the girls were cute. Daddy brought home a treat from work and they were so excited to eat the yummy cupcakes! Needless to say, a bath was very much needed afterwards!! Totally worth it though!

One of the big projects I had my mom help me with while she was here, or rather, DO mostly herself, was paint Payton's room in preparation for moving the girls together to share one room. Alexa and Barrett were big helpers!! Especially Barrett.

Here are the BEFORE pictures:

The DURING pictures:

And the AFTER pictures:

I'm really quite happy with how it turned out! Thanks Mom!!! Now I just need to mentally prepare myself to actually put the girls together and deal with the adjustment that that is going to be!

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Payton has been quite cute with her baby brother. She definitely has many moments when she doesn't want mommy to touch him, feed him, hold him, look at him, etc....but she loves to hold him and sing to him. Here she is singing her current favorite song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:

It was so great to have my mom here. I honestly don't know what I'd done without her here! The girls absolutely LOVED having Gramma here and were so sad to see her go. And despite just having had a baby, we were able to get quite a bit done and get out of the house quite a bit!

This poor little man, he's going to have to get used to a whole lot of lovin'!!

My wonderful friend, Julie, back in Kentucky made this cute little blanket for Barrett...and even though he wasn't in the best of picture-taking moods, I wanted to get a picture of him on it while he was in a coordinating outfit!! Lol...I know I'm silly AND he's a boy, but I can still have fun dressing him up in his boyish little outfits, right??!!! :-)

Last weekend was our good little friend, Reaghan's, second birthday, so we ventured out as a family to celebrate with her and her family. Alexa and Payton had so much fun finger painting and blowing bubbles.

Last week, I got a surprise phone call from my brother, Ron, who I haven't heard from in a long time. He and his new wife, Penny, were going to be in Phoenix and wanted to know if they could come stay with us for a couple days since they'd be so close. It was great to catch up and meet his new wife and have him meet my little family. The girls absolutely adored both Ron and Penny right away and had so much fun with them. Thanks guys for coming and spending Mother's Day with us, we had a great time!!

Mother's Day was also Barrett's first outing to church. I forgot all day to take pictures until the very end when he was once again NOT in a picture-taking kind of mood! But at least I got a picture of him in his Sunday outfit! The cute blanket he's laying on was made and given to us from the Young Women in our ward.

I had to show proof that I am still here...I don't think there are many pictures of me and Barrett but every now and again, we remember to take one! I sure do love our little man!

Yesterday was Alexa's last day of the gymnastics class she's been taking. She did this class with her friend Evie and they had a great time! Payton always felt a little left out but she'll get her turn...maybe in the Fall!

My sweet cheese ball! She was super sad after Alexa left with Evie for her class, so I had to cheer her up with juice and some crackers! Surprisingly, she actually smiled for a picture!

Evie's mommy was kind enough to take some pictures at Trinity and share them with me. I'm so glad Alexa was able to participate in and enjoy this class.

And today, we played in the water in our back yard. It's gotten quite warm here already but I haven't been able to quite yet go to or handle the thought of taking all 3 kiddos to the pool...so this is the next best thing. I can leave Barrett napping inside (or bring him out so he can eat!!) and let the girls play with their friends. We love having Pierson and Reaghan over!

Well, I think that about covers it for now. I'm sure there's still plenty to blog about...but you'll have to be patient with me. Geesh, you'd think I just had a baby or something with how behind I was!! :-)