The many faces of Seth's

Both our little ones are so expressive!! I love it! And I'm really enjoying getting to know my little baby and all his faces!


But the best expression is that cute little smile!

YNP and Me Plus Three

Summer is coming to an end! Monday morning will be the official end of our summer. Boohoohoo!

Ah well, we'll have a fun school year anyhow!

We decided to go on a final road trip to Yellowstone National Park for an end of summer bash! We had a great time and did all the touristy things there are to do (even though I've been to the park quite a few times, the majority of our memorial and labor days were spent in Yellowstone or Jackson since we only lived 1 hr and 15min away). Went to the paint pots, stopped at all the little stops along the way to Old Faithful, and we even ate at the Old Faithful cafeteria. It was a little expensive, so we bought one plate and shared it...it was yummy and filling for all three of us! Not a bad deal, really.

When we had all the fun we could possibly have in the park, we headed to West Yellowstone. We shopped, ate ice cream, and finished our fun day at the Playmill. We saw Beauty and the Beast and it was absolutely wonderful!! Poor Grace was scared of the beast, we had to take her out to the lobby were the beast himself (waiting for an entrance through the audience) tried to calm Gracie's fear by giving her a crown, an Gaston gave her a sucker. Sadly their efforts were in vain, but she fell asleep in Deryk's arms and we were able to enjoy the rest of the play. It was fun to see my old high school buddy, Cameron, who played the clock. He was great!! Such a talented actor and singer.

Such cute smiles from our sweet and happy baby boy!

Such beautiful scenery! Yellowstone is so amazing. So much beauty in one area! I love it!

Mmm! Yummy Mac and cheese at the Old Faithful Cafeteria.

My handsome boys taking in the view!

Gracie watching in wonder at the elk in the field. (She thought everything was so neat. When she saw one of the paint pots bubbling and different colors oozing out of it, she exclaimed, "awesome! Do you see that?"

I took this picture in our car! The buffalo was so close I couldn't zoom out any farther to get his whole body. He was just walking along the side of the road. It was just a few feet from our car (and the rest of the traffic, of course. So cool!

All in all, it was a great trip, perfect for ending the summer of fun we have had!

Such cute cousins!

Gracie loves her cousins, and I love watching them play together. (And sometimes refereeing!)Eva, so much fun and energetic! Gracie LOVES her to death! (mostly because she gets everything she could ever want when Eva is around...devoted attention and the absence of having to share her toys, Eva caters to her every need)
Brylee, one cute and super-charged ball of energy!! So much fun to have around! Gracie loves her when she's not playing with any of her own toys...I think they are super funny to watch together. It's definitely a love-hate relationship they have going on. Maybe Grace will learn to share after all!
Ah... Smooch-a-roo!
Ethan! AKA Efers! Cutest little guy and the most humorous toddler I've ever met. Grace's partner in crime!
All my nieces and nephews are so cute, I'm happy they get to be a part of our lives!

"Happy to Gracie"

Gracie turned two on Wednesday, the 18th! And ever since she's been singing the happy birthday song, though she sings it, "happy to Gracie" Kind of cute!

We had a great day! We had birthday cake for lunch, opened presents, went to a matinee, Shrek: Forever After, and then on a family walk to try out Gracie's new wheels!

Checking out her shiny new bike!

She's off for a test drive!

Her new desk! She's such a studious student already...she's learned a lot with both her parents being students her entire two years of life!

Cake for lunch?? There really isn't anything that can beat that...pretty much the best day of our lives!

It was such a fun day that Gracie just can't wait to have another birthday!

First Horse Ride

I promise, she loved it!! The tears are because the ride came to an end!

Caught Red-Handed

We made carmel popcorn the other day and left it on the counter and look who was caught red handed with her hand in the "cookie jar."

She's a crafty and sneaky one, but not sneaky enough! After all, she did get caught

And her accomplice...

One Month With Seth

Seth is one month old! WOW! How time flies when you're sleep deprived and having fun!

This is what we have learned about our sweet baby boy so far.

• He's a cuddle bug! He loves to be swaddled and held as tight and as close as possible. (Grace was the complete opposite, so we love that we get to cuddle our baby this time around!)
• He is very calm except when he decides he's hungry. Then, Oh boy! Calm is the last word I'd use to describe him! (once again, another characteristic that Grace and Seth do not share. They both get to be unique in the way we would describe them, kind of fun to have opposites)
• Midnight is Seth's hardest hour of the day, he gets fussy and struggles a little. (Also a hard hour for us, we want to sleep and Seth just wants to be cuddled)
• He poops A LOT! We change more poopy diapers than one thought was possible! I kid you not, there are many times when the minute I finish changing one doaper, before I snap his onesie closed, he's filling another diaper! He definitely does NOT get that from me. ;)
• He's a little terrified of his older sister, who shows her affection incessantly and hasn't learned how to restrain herself and all the love she has for her baby brother. (the picture below says it all)
• 


• He snorts. Yep, cutest little snort. Makes us laugh.
• And finally, he fits in perfectly into this small family. We adore him!

What???

What's that smeared on Gracie's face? Oh, nothing really, just Desitin diaper cream. No, not out of a tube, which would still be a little disturbing and disgusting, no, this stuff is right out of a tub! Yep, the kind you double dip into when you need just a little more coverage on a sore and red booty. SO gross! But no, it doesn't stop there...

Just another interesting day with Gracie!

Triumph!

I have always been scared of sewing clothing that required putting a sleeve in it, but I finally decided to just give it a try. Actually another try, one reason why I stayed away from sewing anything with a sleeve in it, is because I had tried before but failed miserably. This time I was a bit more successful. I did have to rip out the seems once to fix a mistake, but it turned out in the end. And now I feel like there isn't anything I can't sew...okay, just about anything! :)

So here is my first attempt at sewing Gracie a dress. I have so many more I want to make now that I know I can put in a sleeve.

Summer Water Fun

This past weekend my family got together in Rexburg to play in the water. They have a super nice and FREE water park. The kids all had a great time. Grace loved playing with her cousins and all the water fun!
Grace was a little scared of the slide at first but once her cousins helped her down it, she couldn't get enough of it. She went over and over AND OVER!
Fun in the water fountains!

Gracie loves her cousin, Trevor. He is so good to her and such of fun boy! Thanks Trev for showing Gracie a good time. It was nice to have some time to visit with my brothers and sisters while Grace was entertained by her fun cousins.

4th of July??

It hardly felt like a traditional 4th of July around here. With Seth just a few days old, we opted to celebrate the 4th as a family and kept it very low key.

Friday we watched the fireworks from afar. We watched from a parking lot below the USU stadium (aside from one other car, we were the only ones in the parking lot). Seth stayed in the car and Gracie watched with excitement and commented on the "pretty lights." She was pretty darn impressed.

To complete our 4th of July celebration, we went to a nearby canyon and had a small hotdog and mallow roast. We had a great time as a family, but I admit it didn't feel like the usual 4th of July with large crowds and extended family.

I'm grateful for the day to celebrate our country and our freedoms. We truly are a blessed people, and we owe much of that to those who have given and are willing to give so much for our freedom and country.

Mmmm, roasted marshmallows! Can't get any better than that!Have you seen a happier more content little girl?? She loves her mallows!

And Seth slept while Grace stuffed herself on mallows and weenies (mostly mallows)!

Sew OCD

I bought a sewing machine in May (thanks to very thoughtful and sweet gift cards given to me for graduation). The machine has been more than useful! you might say that I've been a little more than OCD about sewing, but my rationale for being so sew crazy was that I was going to be having a baby in a month or so and needed to finish all the projects I had planned before he got here. Truthfully, it has really been lots of fun sewing again and relearning all that I've forgotten over the years of sewing absence. Here are the projects I've been working on...

Seth is modeling this receiving blanket I made especially for him!!

Burp cloths. A must!!!
A new blanket and matching pillow case for Gracie's bed. Turned out so cute and I'm going to make a blue and brown one that will match for Seth. If they're going to share a room, they might as well match. :)

The bag on the left is a diaper bag, it has pockets lining the whole inside and if it should get all gross and dingey from spilled milk and what-not, I can just throw it in the washer. The bag on the right, I made just for fun. My sister, Rachel made one a while ago and I've wanted to make one ever since.

Close-up. I love this bag, I decided to sew it with the raw edges out, and I really like how it turned out. It was a fun project.

And finally, I made these baby blankets. One for Seth and one for my friend, Bethani's baby girl who should be making her appearance any day! We were actually due the same week...Being induced is the best ever!!!

It has been tons of fun sewing again! I have a few more projects I plan to do. I'm so happy I have my own machine now to do what I want, when I want...so convenient. Though I should send a huge shout out to my sisters and mom for letting me use their machines in the past. Thanks girls!

New Arrival: Seth Joel!

He's here!

Seth Joel Barrett

Born Monday, June 28, 2010 at 2:14pm

Weighing in at 7lbs. 13oz!

Which is a HUGE relief because the doctor thought he was measuring between 9 and 10 pounds at my last appointment (which made me want to scream and cry at the thought of delivering a 10 pound baby, I had a hard enough time with a 9lb. 3oz. baby!)

Everything went well, and he is healthy! He gave us a little scare and had to have a few tests done. He was tested for spina-bifida, a heart problem, and a few X-rays. But all the tests came in and he's a healthy and well little child. We are thankful for answered prayers and the peace of the spirit in our time of worry and fear.

So now he's home with us and all is well and happy! Gracie loves having a baby to call her own and help with. It's fun to watch her help and I think it will teach her so much about love and service in the family.

Girls Will Be Girls

She just had to make a quick phone call!