Milestones

Barrett's big milestone this month was relinquishing the paci once and for all! He has only been using it for sleeping since he was 2, but he is now completely paci-free. After a couple rounds of trying in months past, this time Barrett successfully handed it over and has been sleeping like a big boy for almost 2 weeks. Very exciting.

Also, he has become quite the artist. He's a perfectionist so he always wants to get the details right - he'll always correct you if you try to draw a face without eyebrows. Here's the Hulk. Those are his fists. He's smashing.
And Caroline had a big one this month - on Friday she pulled herself to stand for the first time, and then did it several more times just for good measure. I had been working with her a ton because I knew she was close, then Matt got home from work and I ran upstairs for maybe 3 minutes when I hear cheering downstairs. I missed it. I was grateful that at least she continued to show off her new skill so that I could see it the second and third times. She's growing up so fast. I haven't gotten the video of her standing on the computer yet, so I'll just share some adorable pictures. There's no shortage of those around here.

Halloween

Our kids are awesome. This pose was Barrett's idea. Love.

In keeping with the super hero theme, Caroline was Wonder Woman this year. Double love. Matt had a trick or treat at his office the Friday before Halloween (big fun), but Caroline's costume wasn't ready in time. I threw this together and it worked fine, but Matt was right when he said she looked like Wonder Woman if Wonder Woman was starring in a workout video from the 80's.

This was her completed costume. For the record, it fit perfectly and looked awesome. I somehow forgot, though, that infant costumes are kind of supposed to be comfortable.

So at T-minus 30 minutes, I figured out a way to make it more comfortable. Given the rush, I was pleased enough with how it turned out. Impossible not to make her cute, though, really.

Trick or Treating!

New Jersey!

We had a super fun and much needed family trip last weekend to visit Grandma and Grandpa Wood in New Jersey. Caroline did great on her first plane trip, and both kids had so much fun all weekend (and so did Mom and Dad!). Thanks so much, Grandma and Grandpa, for showing us such a great time and for creating the most inviting home - we love being there and already can't wait to come back! Here are some shots of the kiddos with their grandparents...

Swinging with Grandma

Walking through the woods with Dad and Grandpa
We went back to the beautiful farm where we visited during our last trip. Barrett was loving it.

Hay ride!

Cute Kids

No real reason to post. Just showin' off the kiddos and their growing friendship.

Motherhood

I read this yesterday on John Piper's desiringgod.org and found it to be one of the most encouraging words on motherhood I've read. And I felt it was good enough to share - here's an abridged version:

Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling. You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps. It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in. It is what God gave you time for.

Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory...You stand with the defenseless and in front of the needy. You represent...laying down your life for another - and laying down your life for another represents the gospel.

So lay down your hopes. Lay down your future. Lay down your petty annoyances. Lay down your desire to be recognized. Lay down your fussiness at your children. Lay down your perfectly clean house. Lay down your grievances about the life you are living. Lay down the imaginary life you could have had by yourself. Let it go.

...Live the gospel in the things no one sees. Sacrifice for your children in places that only they will know about. Put their value ahead of yours. Grow them up in the clean air of gospel living. Your testimony to the gospel in the little details of your life is more valuable to them than you can imagine. If you tell them the gospel, but live to yourself, they will never believe it. Give your life for theirs every day, joyfully. Lay down pettiness. Lay down fussiness. Lay down resentment about the dishes, about the laundry, about how no one knows how hard you work.

Stop clinging to yourself and cling to the cross. There is more joy and more life and more laughter on the other side of death than you can possibly carry alone.

Do's and Don't's

I am often surprised and amused by the things I hear myself saying to Barrett. You'd think that some things would go without saying, but here's a partial list of some of the things I have actually had to tell Barrett not to do in the past week:

"Barrett, please don't....

-lick the counter (while checking out at The Gap)
-throw your Captain America shield at your baby sister
-give your baby sister a wet willy
-talk about your private parts at church
-tell a woman you just met that she is disgusting
-tell your mommy and daddy that you will "poop on us" if we say something you don't like

Update

I am the worst about getting updates on the blog, but here's a peek at what's been happening around here...

We've been having the best (and the hottest) summer here at the Wood house. Caroline is growing SO fast - she's 95th percentile in both weight and height, so she's proportional, but big. In the past month or so, she has totally emerged as a talkative and happy girl. For the first several months, she was very, very serious, but she seems to be lightening up a lot and enjoying her summer right along with the rest of us. She's totally in love with Barrett and finds him hilarious - she laughs at pretty much anything he does (which he loves, too, of course). She's eating solids at two meals/day and she's still doing great with sleeping. Such an angel. As for Barrett, he's in full-on big boy mode. We've been going to the pool as much as possible. He's so daring and he loves his floaties.
Making little sister laugh before lunch time.
Fun in the tub with mom Matt is the funnest dad ever. Ever. We have some seriously lucky kids.
Now get ready to see the most adorable chubby baby picture ever...

I'm going to try to post more pictures on facebook. That's it for now. Enjoy.

Beautiful

It's celebration Sunday this weekend at the Village, which means they'll be doing baptisms and celebrating new babies. Caroline is among them, so I thought I'd share the picture(s) of her we'll be sharing so that everyone can see and celebrate her sweet little life.

3 Years Old

On June 10 we celebrated Barrett's 3rd Birthday!! Can't believe he's already three, but we did some super fun celebrating on his birthday and afterward. Here he is opening presents first thing in the morning on Friday.

Licking the batter for his birthday cake. Red velvet - tasted delicious, but looks disgusting in the pictures. He looks like a vampire.
The finished product.

On the morning of his birthday, we were able to visit the Coppell fire station and tour (read: climb all over) the fire trucks. Barrett was in heaven. He was so excited and the fire fighters were loving him.

On Saturday we had a little party for family, our home group, and a few of Barrett's closest friends. Fun with the pinata. Hitting something with a stick to produce candy - I can't imagine anything more perfect for Barrett.

And Barrett's favorite gift from his day... an Iron Man helmet from his Uncle Ryan. It. is. awesome.

Happy Birthday little man!!

May

Aside from a nasty fall by Barrett (see Passport to Life's "Superhero Injury" for details), this month has been full of good times and adorable children. Just thought I'd post a few pictures to keep everybody up to date. First, little Caroline...

Happy Mother's Day to me!Ha, I love this pictures. Happy Birthday, Daddy!! This is the best one we got. Hilarious.
Her two month shot. She really isn't much for posing.
And Barrett... I LOVE these pictures of him at the park. So handsome.
and Clark Kent. He's wearing his Daily Planet press pass that his Grandma Wood made him. So fun - you're so creative, Grandma, we love it!

Sleep Well, Dallas. Your Streets are Safe...

For the first two months of 2011, Barrett was obsessed with Rocky (as in The Italian Stallion). I can only imagine that his Rocky phase was to get him in shape for his true calling - a superhero. Most of Barrett's waking hours (and now sleeping hours thanks to Superman pj's) are spent as either Clark Kent, Superman, Batman, Peter Parker, Spiderman, Wolverine, the Incredible Hulk or any villain of the aforementioned heroes. Underneath his clothes, he usually has a Superman S, the Bat symbol or the Spiderman emblem painted on his chest. His preferred mode of transportation is flying - meaning I am to carry him horizontally while his arms are outstretched and I sing various theme songs.

Lately, Caroline made her first trip to Pottsboro to spend time with Angie's family and we had a visit from my mom.

Caroline is now 6 weeks old. In some ways it's been an incredibly fast six weeks and in other ways, incredibly slow. I don't know how Angie is able to handle the constant noise all day long. Anyway, isn't she pretty...