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!

Times are a changin'!

OKLAHOMA HERE WE COME!

RIGHT BACK WHERE WE STARED FROM!

The Barrons are TULSA BOUND!  

  DC has been AWESOME and the last 12 years here
have given me more gifts than I could ever imagine - my hubby, my
kids, my job, etc.  But, now that we have two little people and life
is moving on, it's time to go back to the Midwest and be closer to
home.  We are thrilled about it and know that our kids are going to
  enjoy growing up near family and old friends.  We'll be able to celebrate life milestones, more holidays, school events, and just really soak in the everyday life journey with the people we love so dearly.  I am so grateful.  It's a bittersweet time since DC has been our little home as a family the last 8 years.  There are so many memories - too many to speak of.  We've made life long friendships, traveled every inch of beautiful VA, watched our kids blossom and personally been a part of history.  It's a life that has exceeded my wildest dreams and I pause sometimes and wonder, "how did I get so lucky on this journey?"  

And so the truck comes to pack us up in less than a month.  We have A LOT TO DO in a short amount of time, but I plan on blogging my way through the boxes.  So stay tuned.

We're excited for the future.  

Thankful for the past.  

Forever blessed that 8 years ago in the halls of the U.S. Senate, one lucky girl from Oklahoma would meet one incredible guy from Oklahoma.  And together, they embarked on the most wonderful adventure of their lives.