Happy Halloween from our Army Man and Lil' Pumpkin - 2011

HAPPY HALLOWEEN 2011!!

William could hardly wait for the clock to strike 6pm so we could hit the streets for TRICK O TREATS!  He reminded me several times that this year is Adeline's very first Halloween and her very first time to trick-o-treat.  He was SO EXCITED for her to experience all the fanfare of Halloween.  I don't know who he was more excited for - himself or his sister!!  It was so very sweet to hear him talk about how much he hoped she would have fun wearing her costume and getting candy in her pumpkin bag.  Simply melts my heart to see William at 4.5 years old looking out for his little sister and truly relishing all of her "firsts."
Today is also Dan's last day at work, so he has been SO BUSY trying to tie up all the loose ends in the office.  I knew there was a good chance he'd miss out on trick-o-treating this year.  HISS BOO.  Not to mention that Halloween is the single most HORRIBLE TRAFFIC day for Washington, DC.  All the parents want to get home early to take their kids out so the traffic is usually gridlock starting at 4pm.  One Halloween was so bad that Dan turned around and went back to the office instead of sitting for a hour in the traffic.  It stinks.  And,  it just kills me when our Dada can't be with us on special days like this one.  I want him to see how cute the kids look in their costumes and the genuine smile on William's face when he races back to me with a hand full of candy.  
The evening was crisp, so I bundled Adeline up even though her pumpkin costume is pretty warm.  She usually goes to bed around 6:30pm, but we planned on meeting our friends, Lucy and Frank at 6pm in the parking lot.  Once I got the kids all ready, William wanted to hit a few houses while we waited for Lucy.  So, a couple Snickers later we found our football friends and together, we set out to strike it rich. 
I heard William whisper to Lucy, "Did you see my baby?  Isn't she the cutest little pumpkin you have ever seen?"  Proudest Mommy Moment E.V.E.R.


I think we covered almost all of Windgate and William finally had to give me his basket to carry because it was getting heavy and about to overflow.  Adeline fell asleep during the fun and we stayed out for almost 2 hours.  There are lots of little kids in the neighborhood and William had a GREAT time watching the other children and seeing their costumes.  He just loves kids and didn't hesitate to tell strangers how cool their costumes looked.  He also got TONS of compliments from people handing out candy.  They loved how authentic his costume was with the name plate and patches.  Some even asked me where I got the costume and if it was real.  Yea Dada for putting together a winner!
William was very proud of his loot, so we hit a few houses on our townhouse row before calling it a night.  Once we got home, he couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had and how it's "so hard to wait for a fun holiday for 395 days again."  Oh to be a kiddo!
There was one moment today when I looked at William all dressed up in his big ol' army man uniform with the clunky boots just smiling and proudly walking up to doors saying, "Happy Halloween! Thanks for the candy."  That moment is emblazoned in my heart forever.  I can't explain it really.  It was just THAT MOMENT when childhood shines through and as a parent, it just takes you back.  And you see your baby who isn't a baby anymore but now a kid who really understands the magic and excitement of Halloween.
I saw my little boy in all his innocent glory and I just want that small moment to last for years. 

Grace Episcopal Junior K Halloween Party 2011

Today was William's Halloween party for his JK class at Grace Episcopal.  The kids wore their costumes to school and took a change of clothes once the party and costume parade were over.  I am a room parent again this year, so Adeline and I were prepared to show up for the fun!  

I first brought Adeline downstairs in her smocked Halloween dress, but William was insistent that she wear her costume.  He said, "Mom, whyyyyyyy is Adeline wearing that dress?!!!  She is suppose to be in her pumpkin costume for my school party.  It's a costume party Mom."  duh.

So, I put Adeline in her pumpkin costume and I must admit, she was ADORABLE.  William's party was a hit.  He was so excited and proud to be in his costume.  All of his friends had fun eating their Halloween snack together.  It was a quick party and over in about 45 minutes.  Adeline was SO tired because the outing caused her to miss her best nap of the day (morning nap).  So, we escaped out the door pretty quick and my little pumpkin fell asleep as soon as we got in the car.  
Side Note - William's teachers came up to me and told me how much they are going to miss William.  They told me what a joy he is in their class and how he sets an example on what it means to be a friend.  I almost cried.  I am so appreciative for their leadership in the classroom and offering those kind words about my little boy.  They told me to expect a few bumps in the road during his transition to a new school, but also reminded me how at this age, kids just love to have playmates and welcome new faces.  I am hoping that will be the case, but I know William also loves having friends around.  So, I do think he'll enjoy being at school and filling his days with fun activity.  

Grace Episcopal School Halloween Party 2011 and Jake's 5th birthday party

 Today we had a double header of costume fun.  This year for Halloween, William is an army guy.  Dada had a great time (and I often wonder if Dada wants to wear the costume) looking for the perfect camouflaged army man uniform.  Cousin Nancy is in the Air Force and she was able to get William a personalized name patch for his costume too.  And, baby girl is not to go unnoticed in this post, but we just didn't get a good picture of her in the costume today.  Adeline is a pumpkin and the most precious in the patch.  More pics to come.

 So first off, we went to cousin Jake's 5th birthday party.  It was a costume party and it was suppose to be outside with a bounce house.  However, a cold front brought us rain and SNOW.  Can you believe it?  We got snow before Halloween.....YIKES!  Luckily, the snow didn't stick, but the weather changed the birthday plans.  The show went on inside Jake's house with games and a face painter.  William loves face paint.  He won't wear a costume with a mask or stand next to a "character" or mascot, but the kid embraces face paint every chance he gets.  Go figure.

He stepped right up and asked for a full camouflaged face.  You can tell he's thrilled with the results!
After a great time at Jake's, we headed home to regroup for the school Halloween carnival.  We rested about 1 hour and then loaded the army man and pumpkin back into the car for round two of costume parties.  William loves the carnival at his school.  It's put on by the parents and is very basic.  However, the kids have a great time playing games, winning prizes and exploring the haunted house.  Adeline was a champ and EVERYONE complimented her cuteness.  She was wide eyed the first 30 minutes and you could just tell she was like, "what in the world is this?"  Bless her heart, she's a baby who likes to go to bed around 6:30pm and this party started at 6:30.  oh well.  She was too stimulated to sleep, but by 8pm, she sank into my arms.  


William dropped us at the door.  He was Mr. Cool and we were at HIS school with HIS friends and yeah man, the JK crowd.  He hit the room like he owned the place and spent most of the night running around like a nut, chasing his friends and on rare occasion, glancing over at us with a nod.  Oh man, I think I got a taste of my big boy on campus.  He played a few games and at the end of the night, William got a huge surprise. 
He guessed the right number of candy corn in the witch jar!!!!  His first real win (sorta).  He was so proud and excited!  In case you are wondering, William guessed 100 candy corn but oops!  I must have heard him incorrectly because I accidentally wrote down 392.  Shhhhhh!  
By 8:30pm, we had a sacked out pumpkin and a sugar loaded soldier.  So we packed up and headed home.  It was a great day celebrating Halloween and a successful trial run for Monday night!

Adeline is 7 months old!

Dearest Adeline,


You are 7 months old!  Growing like a weed.  Happy as the sun.  A roly poly of cuddly cuteness.

This month you are 20 lbs and wear a size 5 diaper.  I upgraded you on the diaper size because those chubby little legs of yours were pretty tight in the size 4.  Depending on sizing, your clothes are 6-9m or 9-12m.  Pjs are 12m or sometimes 18m depending on the brand (I don't like them really tight on you).  Your eyes are a dark blue and your hair is getting thicker each day.  It is not black anymore, but it has stayed brown.  Your eczema seems under control and the only place you seem to itch is the crease right by your ankle.  You have a little eczema on your forehead and you like to scratch it while you drink your bedtime bottle.  I have to work with you on keeping your hands off your head!!
You are also working on some new teeth.  The top two center teeth are poking through your gums and you are busy chewing on your toys to help out the two teeth trying to come in on the bottom sides.  You are constantly drooling and desperate to bite on your teething beads and soft toys.  Luckily, you sleep well at night and the new teeth don't seem to bother you then.  WHEW!


You LOVE to sit up and play with all your toys.  You can work the controls on your light up table and you still giggle when you see your baby dolls.  You like to hold their hands and poke their eyes while smiling from ear to ear.  You can roll all over the place and I have to keep my eyes on you now because rolling around has become your way of getting where you need to go.  You still don't have interest in crawling, but you will tolerate being on your tummy so much more than you did a few months ago.  You like toys that play music and light up, but you also LOVE to watch William zoom around the house.  I think he's taught you how to holler because you are LOUD girl!  I watch you study William while he talks to you and I can tell that you want so badly to talk back to him - so you holler and wave your hands in the air.  You also love to play with William and your favorite activity is patting him on the back or pulling his hair.  He gets a kick out of it and laughs along with you.


You sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time this month and you LOVED it.  You sit at the table, bang your hands on the table and scream with sheer delight.  You have arrived at the party and simply enjoy being a part of the table conversation.  Since sitting in the high chair, you have also found a bird's eye view in the shopping cart seat.  It's a great way for me to get my shopping done because you are so entertained by your surroundings. 
You laugh a deep belly laugh and get a real kick out of rubbing your feet together and wiggling your toes.  You babble all the time and say things like "BABABABA" and "DAAAAA" - so close to "DADA!"  
Baby food and your pacifier are still your best friends.  You eat like a champ and never miss a meal.  Raspberries are the only food that make you break out so far.  Not sure if it's an allergy or not, but we'll put those aside for now!  Your favorite foods are the "orange" family - squash and carrots.  But, you also love a good bowl of peas too.  The overall winner on your plate are the graham cracker crumbs.  You think those are the BEST EVER and wave your legs around in pure delight.
I started giving you water from a sippy cup and at first you were not a big fan.  You'd push it away because you'd rather have your bottle.  But, I cut the opening of the sippy cup nipple so the water would flow out faster and that seemed to do the trick.  Now you really like to take a few swigs of water throughout the day and you understand exactly what cup gives it to you.
You are still riding in your infant carrier even though you clearly are too big now.  You still fit in it, but I can't carry it anymore because it is so heavy!!  I want to switch you to the big girl seat, but I am going to wait until we move (in 1 week) to do that.  So for now, I just leave the carrier in the car and move you in and out of it. 
You are SUCH A HAPPY LITTLE BABY!  I thank my lucky stars every single day for you Adeline.  You are my answered prayer, a testament of my faith.  We love you beyond the stars and can't wait to see what month 8 brings.

We are off on a special adventure with William!

Cox Farm 2011

 Well, it's that time of year again!  COX FARMS!  This is one of my favorite outings with William.  We've made it a tradition for the last 3 years and every visit is more fun than the last.  I usually pick him up from school about 30 minutes early because it's about a 45 minute drive to the farm.  For two years, we have played at Cox Farms with one of William's most special pals, Caroline.  

She's a sweet heart and these two have been buds since mother's day out.  Caroline are her mom are two people I will miss terribly.  They both have a piece of my heart and it has been a delight to watch William and Caroline forge a bond like brother and sister - true protectors of each other.  So this trip to Cox Farms was a little bittersweet since this will be our last visit for awhile.  It was only fitting to spend 3.5 hours on the hay slides with our very own Sweet Caroline.

The day was beautiful, but much warmer than I thought.  Luckily, William was in shorts and Adeline was able to shed her tights for some fall sunshine.  The kids hit the ground running while Cherlyn and I diligently tried to keep our eyes on them.  I had Adeline in the stroller which made our travels easy!  The farm is HUGE and even though it's crowded, you still feel like it's half empty.  The lines are pretty short since there are slides EVERYWHERE.   The kids never get frustrated or loose time waiting for a turn.  William and Caroline (Connor too!) zipped down about 100 hay slides.  

Cherlyn and I couldn't believe their energy level because the only way to get to the top of the slides was to hike (or run) up the steep hills....and these kids RAN up those hills!  They loved all the slides, but William's favorite was a tall twisty slide that came out of the side of a red barn.  I laughed to myself because he LOVED this slide yet it was EXACTLY the same as a tunnel water slide at Wolf Lodge and Broadmoor.....and he's terrified of those!  Won't even entertain the idea of going down them.  I guess fear is thrown to the wolves at Cox Farms for the ol' WBB!  

William wasn't interested in the hayride through the haunted forest, so while we waited for the McCalls to return from the ride, I took some silly pictures of the kids and William road another 20 times down the hay slides for good measure.  Our group reunited at the children's zoo where they caught a glimpse of pigs, cows, chickens, sheep and a few other stinky animals.  

By 3pm, my crew was ready to roll.  So we bid Caroline good-bye and William spent a few minutes picking out a pumpkin for himself and Adeline.  We got a few cute pictures on our way out of the farm and headed to the car for a snack.  Adeline was an absolute GEM the entire 3 hours at the farm.  I am so thankful for her easy going attitude and always happy disposition.  She loved watching William run around and enjoyed riding in the shaded stroller.  

We got back to our house around 4pm and all of us were pooped.  William kept telling me how much fun he had at Cox Farms and that he was so happy Adeline got the chance to see where he likes to go in the fall.  He's so sweet to his sister and truly gets excited for her "first" of everything in life.  I think he's reminded me about 4 times already that this was Adeline's first trip to Cox Farms.  

He's also asked repeatedly how big Adeline has to be before she can do the hay slides with him.  Now THAT will be one fun fall outing for sure!!  I just know it'll be twice as thrilling to watch both my kiddos enjoy the pumpkin farm together one day.

We love you Caroline!!!

2,985 days

2 newlyweds

6 jobs

13 pieces of furniture

2 babies

0 garage

42 stairs

2 washer/dryers

2 snowmen

8 years of marriage

20 birthdays

1,253 walks to the Metro bus

2 visits from Santa

1,200 square feet

5 animal friends from the forest

5 trick-o-treats

0 fires in the fireplace

54 inches of snow

4 little neighborhood friends

1 leak in the ceiling

0 computer printer

 3 Easter egg hunts
2,834 round trip strolls to Shirlington

300 toy airplanes

1 sippy cup in the air vent

6 Thanksgiving dinners

1 mouse

1,460 days as a stay at home mom

2 cars

1 tree through the roof

1 unknown cat running through the living room 

200 walks to the swimming pool 

And we'll never forget the last 257,904,000 seconds inside our happy home.  That started the unknown journey. That made us the Barron family.  That hold the story of our life. 

Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

A friend of mine loaned me her 50mm camera lense and I decided to take it downtown and play around.  Here are just some random pictures from our Sunday evening on the mall.

Tubbie Time!

Adeline can sit up in the tub now and she LOVES to splash! Check out those scrump-didalee-uptious rolls of baby love.

Her favorite thing is when I leave the water running. If you ask her, "where's the water?" she'll reach out and stick her hand under the faucet.  She likes to splash and dump water out of her trusty red cup.  I have a feeling that playing in the tub will be a great way to pass the time on those long winter days!