Christmas is coming!

Hip, hip, hooray! Christmastime is here! In case you didn't know I LOVE CHRISTMAS! And I love it even more now that Clara is getting older and sort of understands it. Well, she may not understand it but she is very excited about all the pretty decorations, the Christmas tree, the lights, the garland, the music, the cookies and the Santa's! She "ooohs", "aahhs" and "what's that"s to everything she sees. It's so great and I can't wait for next year and all the next years because for a while it's only going to get better. :)

Our house is all decorated for Christmas and we have been busy living up the holiday spirit. We went and visited Santa at the mall yesterday morning. Clara couldn't wait to get have her turn with the big guy. But, as predicted, when it was her turn she wouldn't get close to him without Aaron or I. And, like horrible torturous parents we had to get the Clara only picture with Santa and it's the forever classic "Crying with Santa". I must add that it's not as bad as last year's.

Last week we drove through a Christmas light display at a city park in Elizabethtown. It was very nice. Clara was so excited! She ooohed and aaahhhed and provided the commentary that everything was so "pwetty". We snapped a couple pics of here enjoying herself during the drive.

Michelle, Scott and the kids came over last night and Michelle and I and the kids baked Christmas cookies. Let's just leave it as "it was fun and interesting"! Really, we had a great time, and made some delicious cookies to share. The kids had a lot of fun decorating the cut-out cookies and Clara couldn't keep her fingers out of the cookie dough!

My dad is here visiting for a few days. He and Clara will have some quality time together while Aaron and I are at work Monday and Tuesday. We have Aaron's work party tomorrow and there will be special visit from Santa to deliver presents. I can't wait to see how she does with that! We'll try to bring the camera and get some good pictures.

We hope you are all having a great holiday season! xoxoxox

A great weekend!

Well, last weekend was the exciting adventure in NYC, this weekend was a fun-filled weekend with a visit from Grandma and Papa! :) I just love watching my parents with Clara! They are so in love that little girl and enjoy every moment they have with her. Again, we were too busy having fun and enjoying the visit we didn't even click one picture. Sorry grandma and papa. But we had a very nice visit. Mom helped me do the grocery shopping for our Thanksgiving feast next week. Aaron has been working on the basement and he did more work on the bar and we got all of Clara's toys organized in shelves and bins. Aaron and dad hung up the Christmas light outside on the house. And Clara got lots of quality play, snuggle, bonding time with grandma and papa. The only disappointing event was that I didn't get to reignite my love affair with Edward and go see New Moon. My Twilight loving family and friends will understand what I mean. My mom and I got to the theater Saturday night only to discover that the shows were all sold out until 9:45. Well, I'm sorry Edward, I love you, but I'm too old to go to a 10:00 movie. Instead, my wonderful husband has volunteered to go with me next weekend to see it :) .

My big news this past week is twofold. I haven't been "sick" since the Wednesday before we left for New York!!!!!! Just like with Clara, when I hit 13 weeks, the sick, icky, tired junk disappeared! Now, at 14 weeks this past Thursday, I am feeling so much better. Second, I am back to work! I know, I know, it only took nearly 2 months, but finally everything has fallen in to place and I started my job at Ft. Knox last Wednesday. I see my first patient with Kentucky First Steps this next week. It feels amazingly well to be back to work. Not only because I truly enjoy my job, but because now I feel like my life is organized and routine again. It's incredible how being unemployed has a completely disorganizing, procrastinating effect on my life. Immediately, that first day back I felt like my life was back on track. I am motivated and disciplined with the tasks I need to accomplish. Of course, not feeling like crap probably has something to do with that, too!

Tomorrow is a busy day of silly in-processing stuff on post and work Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday, Turkey Day, we are hosting a feast for ourselves, Michelle, Scott & the kids, and several soldiers in Aaron's platoon. Wish me luck as I prepare my second Thanksgiving feast ever.

We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving; we are thankful that we have each of you in our lives! xoxoxox

Lindsay and David's Wedding

Last weekend we were in New Jersey/New York City for Aaron's sister's wedding. It was so great! Granted, I will admit I was semi-concerned with the logistics of the weekend with our munchkin, but everything went so well thanks to our planning (and thanks to Lindsay for helping us to brainstorm so much!) Clara was a Flower Girl in the wedding and we were going to be away from our hotel for the whole day, late into the night. But our girl was a rock star! And a super cute one if you ask us! We crashed for a nap at the reception hotel between the ceremony and the reception and she lasted until the shuttle picked us up after 11. She was definitely tired, but never once unbearable or cranky.

Enough about us, the wedding was beautiful! Lindsay and David did a magnificent job making everyone feel welcome in the crazy busy city of NYC. Everything went super smooth and most importantly the bride was gorgeous! The church where they held the ceremony was intimate and quaint and the reception was elegant and gorgeous! We unfortunately were too busy having a nice time to remember to take many pictures. That, and we didn't bring the good Nikon camera with us, just the small, easy to travel with camera.

It was very nice to see Aaron's family, too. Clara was able to spend some time with Grandma Sharon and meet more aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was nice to catch up with the family.

Here is a slideshow of the few pictures we did take at the wedding. Sorry that some didn't turn out so great.



Congratulations Lindsay and David! We hope you are having a great honeymoon in Paris and wish you the best as you start your new adventure as husband and wife!

xoxoxox

Clara's Little Secret

Clara has a secret she wants to share with everyone...

And for those who need a closer look ...

That's right! Number two is on the way! We are so excited to share this news with everyone! Today marks the start of the second trimester and we went to the doctor this morning and everything is looking great with Baby Barrett #2. Measuring at 12 weeks 3 days and a heart rate of 160, he/she was a champ for us this morning at the clinic. Our official due date is May 20th; just in time for a 3 year anniversary present for us :).

Even having already been through this, seeing the ultrasound and hearing the heartbeat this morning was very surreal. I have to admit I was teary eyed. It's just so crazy really seeing this little person that's growing inside me. I marvel, continually, but especially now that we're pregnant again, at the miracle of life and how God has blessed us with this gift. And, much to my father's dismay, there is only one "gift" in my uterus! He and I have both had multiple dreams that I was having twins. I had the ultrasound technician do a thorough check and there's only one. Phew! Sorry papa!

Not a blessing, however, is the awful "ickiness" I have been experiencing. Starting just about the time we were moving to Kentucky up until about a week or two ago, each day from 10am til bedtime I was so very nauseous, sugar so low I needed to eat nearly every 90 minutes, and so tired! I was attributing it to the fact that I now have a toddler to keep my running around, but as my lovely grandmother pointed out "you're also older now Kimmie Lee". Thanks grandma! It's is getting better, thank goodness. The icky days are not only two to three times a week. And my energy is definitely returning.

And just to get this out there, we will be having a "surprise" again. No finding out early if Clara will have a baby brother or a baby sister. She'll have to wait until May to find out; and so will you!

Thanks for sharing in our excitement and keep checking back for more updates on our adventures!

Happy day after Halloween

What a weekend! We had a busy, fun-filled Halloween. It was absolutely marvelous that Keri and Justin were able to come down for the weekend. Clara was very excited to have "friends" visiting and new people to amaze with her cuteness! Here's a look at our weekend.

Clara and I decorated some delicious sugar cookies and shared them with our neighbor across the street. Man! It was tricky letting her just dump those sprinkles all over the place! But I was good and let her be creative on her own; after we had "nicely" place them in sprinkles once already!

Decorating the cookies.

Enjoying the yummy, finished product

We had fun playing in pumpkin guts and feasting on pumpkin seeds. I got over my shock that some punks in our nice, country neighborhood stole our pumpkin :) . She loved splatting it on the table and squishing it. Don't worry, in the second picture that's not pumpkin guts in her mouth; she was snacking on goldfish at the same time! And, don't mind our messy bookshelves! I straightened them up this afternoon :)

Wow! This stuff is so cool! And, yummy too! Just kidding!

Clara created a masterpiece of a painted pumpkin; she concentrated quite well while painting and cried like crazy when we put the paint away.

Hard at work creating her masterpiece. So pretty!

For the finale of the day, with trick-or-treating, she made the most adorable walking pumpkin we'd ever saw.

Cutest little pumpkin ever!

Swinging with mommy & daddy is way better than eating all this candy I'm getting!

And, of course plenty of down time and bonding with Auntie Keri and Uncle J, too! It was a fabulous weekend!

Our goofy little "candy corn" chilling with an apple before getting dressed. Look mom! A sucker! And I haven't even gone trick-or-treating yet! (And thanks for the cute Halloween outfit Grandma Sharon :) )
Cutie Clara and Cool Auntie Keri show off their love of Elmo! Some quiet, reading time with Uncle J
You're so silly Auntie Keri!

Wow! That was a fun weekend and a long post! Hope you enjoyed it. Check out the slideshow at the bottom of the blog for more great pics from our weekend. Check back next week for more exciting adventures from our fam!

xoxoxox

Happy Halloween!

No costume picture yet, that will come later today. But, we've began our Halloween celebrations! We made Halloween pancakes! Auntie Keri and Uncle J are here visiting for the weekend. Later on the agenda for today is Halloween cookies and trick-or-treating. We hope you all have a happily haunted Halloween!

Clara's first Halloween projects she made at Mrs. Connie's this week.

My attempt at Halloween shaped pancakes!

Miss Clara and Auntie Keri having some fun with their matching Elmo slippers!

And, now I need to vent because I'm so bummed! I just went outside to get our mail and discovered that somebody (probably some stupid prankster punks) stole our huge pumpkin! It had been sitting innocently on our porch as of last night and now this morning it's gone! I'm so ticked! We were going to carve it today and I was going to feast on it's pumpkin seeds this next week. Luckily we have two smaller ones we can carve, but still. Come on!

Well, anyway, Happy Halloween! Hope you all have your pumpkins :)

Finally! Fall again!

It seems like years since we have lived somewhere that has a real fall. Wait, it has been a few years! It is great to be back up north! We took Clara to the pumpkin farm this afternoon. It was a picture perfect fall day. Driving out there I couldn't help but smile at all the beautiful colors on the trees and share my excitement with munchkin. It was just so pretty!

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch. It was such a cute little place. Tons of pumpkins, a corn maze, hay bale play area, nature trail and a petting farm. We had a very nice afternoon. Too many cute pictures to post just a few so here's a slideshow...

I've also been reminded by my wonderful mother and sister that I haven't updated our blog in a while. I know, I know! I'm sorry! I have no excuses other than I just haven't gotten around to it until now. As promised last time, we did go to Funtopia on Columbus Day and we had a great time. It was a little chilly, but not too bad. We were the only people there! Except for a couple of maintenance guys doing some repairs. Clara really loves the swings and slides. Again, too many great pictures, so enjoy the slideshow...

We have been in Kentucky for nearly a month now and are nearly all settled in. Hope all well with our family and friends. Enjoy the fall; we certainly are!

P.S. For those of you viewing this from email, check the real blog, we've updated our family pic and background for the season :)

The Story of our Couch

This one is just to0 long and too good, it needs it's own post!

I'm sure Aaron is going to laugh when he sees I'm sharing this story with all our family and friends :) I love you baby! :)

We have a finished basement in our new home. Aaron absolutely had his heart set on having the basement be the family room/"man cave" area. He wasn't here the night the movers were unloading the truck. But, the awesome guys from the moving company tried for about 40 minutes to get our over-sized sectional into the basement. They tried every angle, every direction, but the longer of the two pieces just wouldn't clear the tight space at the bottom of the stairs. When Aaron made it to KY and found the big sectional in the living room upstairs (looking horrible I'll add because it's just so large) he vowed that we would get it in the basement even if he had to tear down a wall.

It's got to fit, it's just got to!

That night, with help from my dad and cousin's husband, Scott, they made good on Aaron's promise! Thank God it didn't involve tearing down walls! Some careful exploring and creativity revealed that the couch, when flipped upside-down and partially unupholstered (eeks, I know) is actually two pieces!.

Wait, if we take these bolts out...

Yep! Two pieces!
Thank heaven the three of them kind of knew what they were doing! It made in downstairs and was easily reassembled.

Voila!

What a man won't do for his couch!

Ta-da! Aaron has his "man cave"!

I should also let you know, that he has BIG plans for this "man cave". A bar, sports memorabilia, and all that manly stuff. We'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress. :)

Getting Settled in Kentucky

Hi all! My oh my! So, watching people pack you belongings for you is way better than having to unpack and organize the jumble of "allegedly organized" packing that was done for you! "One box at a time" has been our motto lately. And since there are only about 6-8 boxes left (and they apparently don't contain anything essential otherwise we would have unpacked them by now) we are finally feeling more settled in our house. Not, completely settled, but getting there.

Our house, all clean and trimmed

When we first moved in we had some problems with the property management company. The house looked like it hadn't even been cleaned (inside and out) before we moved in. After many "tactful" conversations and a LONG list of fixes, one cleaning lady, one exterminator, two power-washers, and we are on our way to getting it all taken care of.

Aaron is loving Ft. Knox! The post is a lot nicer, cleaner and more welcoming of his unit. The leadership is a million times better compared to at Ft. Hood. It is so fabulous to have my cousin and her family nearby! They took Clara the evening the movers were coming, she stayed the night (her first "sleepover") and watched the the next day so we could achieve some semblance of organization and start the task of unpacking our home. It worked out more than perfect because the movers didn't even arrive until 6:30 and left a little before midnight. There's no way Clara would have calmly survived all that, or me for that matter.

I haven't started work officially yet, I'm waiting for my background checks to clear before I start. I don't know if I posted this, but, I ended up not accepting the government job on post at Ft. Knox and will instead be doing Early Intervention through the state with Kentucky First Steps. It's the same kind of job (0-3 year olds, going to homes for therapy), just through the state, not DOD.

Anyway, I had an orientation to go to last week. Clara's awesome papa (aka, my awesome dad!) came down for a few days to help out around the house and watch Clara while I had the all day orientation. They both survived and loved every minute of their day together. Gee, I wish I could've been a fly on the wall that day! I left early in the morning before Clara was awake and it would have been my first day of not seeing her at all if I hadn't arrived home just after bedtime and snuck in for some quick snuggles before putting her back to bed. :) Thanks papa for being such a big help, the three of us really appreciate it.

We have had so many cute picture moments, but the camera just hasn't been there when they happened! But I did manage to get a few in the last few days.

Mommy! I can do it myself!

If I could just get this darn foot to fit! Gotcha!

Gotta love a daddy who likes to color with his daughter!

Well, as life settles in for us in Kentucky we are thankful for all the concern and love you have all sent us. We will be sure to post more pics and stories as we make more memories! Tomorrow, being Colombus day, so Aaron has the day off, we are heading to Funtopia. The spectacular playground in Elizabeth town near our house, we'll definitely have the camera for that! Take care, until later,

xoxoxox

Packing Day!

Well, it's finally here! The packers came yesterday, are finishing today and the moving truck comes this afternoon. All our belongings are being shipped to Kentucky tomorrow and hopefully will arrive on Monday. I have to admit that I felt guilty for about the first 10 minutes as the girls were going through Christmas decorations, packing dishes and clothes, while I, Aaron, and my mom sat back and watched. I got over that quick! Man, it is nice to not have to worry about that one bit!

There will be many things we will miss about Killeen. Mainly, our friends, my job, and Mrs. Jackie (Clara's day care provider). I'm sure come the cold Kentucky winter we will be missing the mild temps in Texas, too. But changes must occur when you are "married" to the Army. Aaron and I both have a suspicion that the Army will be calling us back to Ft. Hood eventually. If he goes to flight school (as planned) odds are he'll fly at Hood. Many chopper pilots get posted here and we could too. There was a day when we would have dreaded coming back to hot, sticky Texas. But, looking back on our time here we would not mind returning at all. Think of how easy it would be! I would have a job in a second (my boss here has already said she knows I'll be back and she'll be waiting to re-hire me), we know exactly where we would want to live, I will already have friends here that I'll be anxious to reunite with, and we won't have to learn about to the surrounding community. Time will tell. :)

My mom, Clara, and I will hit the road tomorrow morning to begin our journey to Ft. Knox. Aaron will stay back in Killeen until Monday to settle things with the house cleaners and rental company. He will meet us in Kentucky sometime Tuesday and hopefully arrive to a new house full of furniture!

Rain, Rain, Everywhere!

What a wet week! It started raining Thursday afternoon and didn't stop until this morning. But it was a great, steady, not stormy rain. It was well needed and great. And our munchkin loves the rain! We let her play in the rain on Thursday afternoon and she loved it. Splashing in the puddles, getting all wet, and she started to lay down in the puddles so she could blow bubbles, but mommy spoiled that plan!

Wow! Water in the street! I've never seen that before!

During bathtime the other night, I had the idea to turn on the shower after the water had drained. I figured, if she loves the rain so much, why not make it "rain" in the bathtub? She loved it!

Awesome! Rain in the house!

Make sure to check out the slideshow at the bottom of the blog page for additional pictures!

Until next time, xoxoxox

Happy Labor Day!

We hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend and had as much as we did. We had a busy one, that's for sure.

Friday I enjoyed a "girls day" with some friends of mine, starting with good coffee and great conversation, then lunch and chick flick.

Saturday we hung at home so we could watch the Notre Dame game. Oh, did I mention that we CREAMED Nevada! 39-0 baby! What a great start to the new season.

On Sunday Clara and I headed to church and after lunch the three of us went to the water park down the street. Clara had such a great time playing in the huge wading pool and going down perfectly munchkin-sized water slides. Clara kept asking for "more" after she went down the slides! Aaron and I took turns riding the big slides and a great time was had by all!

Today, Monday, Clara and I went to the park after breakfast for a walk and some swinging and sliding at the playground. After lunch Aaron, Clara and I went out to the backyard for some pool time and a painting project. It was so messy! Which, of course, means it was a blast!

A perfectly painted pot

Looking like she's ready for battle

"But, I don't want to stop painting!"

Back to work tomorrow for both Aaron and I, and most of you, too, I'm sure. Hope you all have a good week.

xoxoxox

Let's Go ND!

It's college football time! Wooo Hooo! Naturally, being Aaron's daughter there was no question what Clara was going to wear on Saturday, Notre Dame's first game and home opener...

Let's go Irish! and Practicing her cheering!


Our Irish beat Nevada 39 to 0!!! What a great start to the season. Now that we'll be living in KY we'll be able to make it to SB for a game or two and Clara can experience tailgaiting. Well, the toddler version of tailgating, at least!

I got the job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hip, Hip, Hooray again!!!!! I got the call yesterday that I was selected for the position I applied for. I'm so excited and Aaron and I are extremely relieved. Such a huge weight off our shoulders.

I will the "motor specialist" for the early intervention services on post at Ft. Knox. Basically, I will be visiting families in their home and working with their children ages 0-3 who are need of therapeutic intervention. I will primarily be evaluating the children and training the parents in techniques to improve their challenges. I'm thrilled to have this opportunity. EI is only aspect of occupational therapy I have yet to work in. Granted, I've worked a lot with the 0-3 population but doing ONLY that will be so cool.

Now, the not so fun part of negotiating a government salary. The position is through the Department of Defense so I'm getting a "coveted" GS position. Which means once I'm in the system I can stay for good. Get regular raises, promotions, and can transfer jobs between different places. So it will hopefully help with all our future moves and make it easier to get jobs at the different posts we go to.

Until later :) xoxoxoxox

Clara's new "sclide"

Daddy just couldn't resist and he bought Clara a slide! She loves her new "sclide" as she calls it. The two of them were supposed to be going to the playground while I was doing my phone interview, but he took her to Toys R Us instead and picked up a slide. She loves it and will even put off dinner 30 minutes so she can slide; and this girl lives by her routine. She can climb up all by her self and shouts "weeeeeee" every time she goes down. It's too adorable.

Clara's turn

Bailey's turn

I also can't resist sharing this next picture with everyone. Clara is such a sucker for her independence, as I'm sure most kids her age are. When we leave the house for Mrs. Jackie's in the morning Miss Clara insists on carrying her own lunch box, her baby or Elmo or both, and wearing her glasses. Here she is all ready to go!

We have a house!!!!

Hip, Hip, Hooray!!!!! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a house in Kentucky! We paid the deposit today. It is such a relief to know that we now have a place to live. We had such a hard time finding a place while we were at Ft. Knox in August and we were getting very discouraged. Major props to Aaron for staying on it and searching the web for hours and days since we got back from vacation. He spotted this home late last week. We sent my cousin Michelle over to look at it and take pics; thank goodness we had someone there to help us with that part. We knew we had to snatch it up quick or loose it and risk not finding anything else for a while.

Our house on Shiloh Court in Rineyville, KY

Here is a slideshow of some of the pictures my cousin took. Keep in mind the current tenants hadn't completely moved out yet and the house is kind of messy. But we still think it looks pretty great! It's in a beautiful, fairly new (early 2000's) subdivision in a town about 15 miles from post. Lots of nice homes and big lots and hopefully nice neighbors!

We will be moving to Kentucky at the end of September. It seems like we have know this was going to happen for such a long time and that we had forever to plan and prepare. And now, just like that, we are moving in 4 weeks. My last day at work will be September 17th. And we will leave Killeen around the 25th.

I had a phone interview for the job I really want! I feel like it went well and should hear more by the end of this week or next. Keep your fingers crossed and say some prayers, I really want this position!

Our little "Doggie Whisperer"

This is too cute not to share; at least in our book! The three of us walked down to the mailbox last night before bathtime. Clara has been whinny since another molar is cutting through so we needed a change of scenery. As we walked down the block a dog somewhere was barking. We couldn't see it, just heard all the barking. Clara stopped dead in her tracks, started turning around quickly to find the sound of the noise, shouted out "doggie, doggie" and then started barking back at the dog. No kidding! She stood there shouting "woof, woof, woof"! She must have been trying to talk to the dog. In my head she would have been asking "doggie, where are you?" It was hilarious and so stinking adorable. She did this three or four times before we got back to the house. According to Aaron, this is just one more reason we need to get a dog when we move to Kentucky. :)

Bottoms Up!

Another big milestone! Well, in the eyes of a mother who happens to be an occupational therapist it is! Clara is drinking from a regular, open cup. Sure, we still have the dribbles and the occasional spills, but the other day she drank a bunch of milk from one without any major spills...until the end! But hey, it's still a big step! I showed her how to dunk animal cookies in her milk and she was loving that!

New pics in slideshow

Check out the slideshow at the bottom of the site. I added some new ones from this past weekend.

Potty Time!

I know, I know, Clara's only 18 months old and we still have a lot of work to go. But, we are excited to be in the early stages of potty training. All on her own, Clara has started telling us when she has to go or has just gone pooh (about 50% of the time, but getting better every day). I guess you could say we talk a lot about pooh these days! Aaron and I have taken this as a sign that she's ready to start the daunting task of toilet training. We have been spending some time on the potty. Two times she's gone pooh in the potty! Granted, one time was just the luck of quick hands while she was in the bathtub and the other was lucky timing when we sat on the potty before bathtime. She has her own potty seats, a potty book, and great start on what I'm sure will be a long process!

What better way to pass the time than a ride on Daddy's knee;

the best horse in town!

Other than that, things have been getting back into routine here at the Barrett house since we've returned from vacation. As I've said before, one of the best thing I love about parenting is watching Clara's personality blossom! Seeing her develop "favorites" and quirks and exerting those preferences.

The big thing that happened is Clara has a new love, her Elmo slippers! Our little girl has quite a thing for the little red monster; as most kids her age I've learned. The slippers arrived on Thursday and she barely takes them off when we're in the house.

Since we spent time at our friends house in South Bend, Clara is all about the baby dolls! Playing with Abby's dolls really brought out Clara's "mothering" instinct. She feeds them with a toy bottle, puts them "night night" and covers them with blankets, and pushes them around in the doll stroller we got her.

She is also in love with her sunglasses! She wears them at Mrs. Jackie's, around the house, and at stores. Don't even think about taking them off unless it's her idea!

Our Elmo lovin', stroller pushin', shade sportin' munchkin!

And tortellini eatin'!

Clara and I spend a lot of time this weekend in the backyard playing in the pool and in the sprinkler. It's been so hot, but were sick of staying inside. Aaron enjoyed a boys weekend in Ft. Meyer's with his buddy Andy and heads back to work tomorrow after a long month off (but not long enough!).

Trying to catch the water.

We hope you all had a fun weekend like we did. xoxoxox