Barrett loves quinoa!

I cannot tell you enough how much I LOOOOOVE making Barrett's baby food! It is so easy, fun, and I know exactly what he's eating! That's all for another post but I just thought I would show you how cute he is eating his delicious quinoa. :)

"you comin' at me?!"

Project 52

One of the blogs I follow did a project last year called project 52. I'm not totally sure of all the details but I think the jist of it was that she took a picture a week of her baby and then compiled them at the end of the year. This year she's doing more and taking a picture a day. That seems like a bit too big of a challenge to me so I'm going to do one every Wednesday. At the end of the year I would like to make a picture book and/or a slideshow of the year. I think it will be so fun to see such drastic contrast in just one year! So, here is today's picture:

December 2011....

I know, I know, pretty spectacular title.... This really has been an awesome month! TJ and I continue to count our blessings :) Barrett had his six month checkup at the beginning of the month. He's in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. He's just over 18 pounds and 28 inches long! I love that he's such a big boy! :)

Barrett, my dad, and I flew to St. Louis for five days in mid December. It was my grandpa Andert's 90th birthday and it was such a treat to get to go out and celebrate with everyone! Barrett did really well on the plane ride there mostly flirting with the girls in the row behind us and sleeping a little bit. Crazy boy pooped four stinking {hehe so punny} times on the plane so that was a challenge. Other than that he was so great! We got there and spent some time with his aunts Lisa and Michelle. It was the first time he had met Lisa and the first time I had seen her in well over a year and it was SO fun! We ate a lot of yummy food, celebrated Christmas [sans gifts... which I much prefer!] and enjoyed family. On that Sunday, we had a birthday party for grandpa with all of our extended family. It was so neat to see everyone and visit and hear their memories of grandpa. Lisa also made a really nifty slide show of his life. Pretty much it was awesome! :) Grandpa and grandma loved seeing Barrett and it was neat to have four generations together. We got a picture but I don't have it... I'll have to steal it from someone :)

One highlight to me was getting to go to an actual store that sells cloth diapers! SO FUN! I haven't found one here yet... It was so neat and I got two of the new bumgenius freestyle diapers and so far I really like them. Not as much as their 3.0s but much much more than their 4.0s. I hate those. Ugh.

Aside from the vacation, we're recovering {Barrett got a little cough and runny nose from the plane} and getting ready for Christmas with TJ's family. Anyway, here's a few pics for you to see :)

 I was baking and he reached down for the sugar... Uh oh he's a "likkerbekker" like his mom. That's a Dutch word by the way.... :)

 "Oh no! I'm caught!"

 "what are you looking at?!"

 He got really good at holding his own bottle while we were in St. Louis

We officially have a sitter! He does really well! I think the cloth diapers help him balance a little....

 He's eating an orange rind... I'm pretty sure it's good for him to chew on plus it has Vit C!

 See his hair is growing in a little...

 He loves his puppy!

 Lookie there at his two teeth!!!!!

 Barrett and grandpa Verhoeven

                                                                       The newest addition to the Ridl family! Little Lexi was born Tuesday December 20 and we couldn't be happier to have a baby girl in the family! I'm so excited to meet her!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

family pics and resolutions....

Hi there! I cannot believe how quickly this year is passing us by! I feel like next Tuesday I'm going to wake up and be 54. Anyway, TJ, Barrett, and I got some family pictures taken this year and are sending out a Christmas card to our family and friends. I'm so excited to be doing this! Here are a few sneak peeks for your viewing pleasure:

The Ridl's

Christmas 2011

I love this boy so much it's unreal. His smile makes my heart melt and I'm so thankful God blessed us.

 I love this picture! Even though I HATE working, I am so grateful to have such an amazing hubs who appreciates that he gets to spend so much time with our little munchkin. I love how close they are and all the love they share! A mom's love is expected, but a child who is loved by his dad is so lucky! Barrett is one fortunate kiddo!

Barrett is at a stage in his life where he puts EVERYTHING in his mouth! Even glittery Christmas ornaments! After our little photo shoot he was absolutely covered in blue, pink, purple, green, and red glitter and it made me laugh!

Some other things I want to remember about Barrett and his little life right now:

He LOVES to play peek-a-boo! The best part is that he plays it all by himself. {I know, you think I'm lying but I promise it's true!} When he's laying on the floor, he'll find whatever is near him, like his burp cloth, pants, blanket, or toys, and he'll cover his eyes with it then kick and breath loudly until you say "Where's the baby?!" and then he'll pull it down and wait for you to say "There he is!" and he will kick and smile some more! He is so fun!

Bath time is still his favorite.

He is super ticklish! Pretty much anywhere you get him he'll laugh. Most ticklish places are his collar bones, feet, and his inner thighs.

Best giggle ever. It's kind of a combination of a scream, a giggle, and a gasp. Super cute :)

He loves food. Anything he can eat that isn't the icky bottle he loves! Sweet potatoes and pears are his favorite, followed closely by peas, carrots, peaches, pineapple, and apples with blueberry. The only thing he "doesn't like" is broccoli but I firmly believe that's only because he hasn't eaten it very many times.

*********

Some things I've been think about lately and some "resolutions" I'm pondering now are making healthier food choices, greener living, and not wasting so much time!

Healthier food choices: Ok, so I feed Barrett a variety of fruits and veggies throughout the day. Rarely does he eat the same thing for breakfast and dinner. So why don't I mix up what I eat a little bit better? I think if I were to eat more fruits and veg I would be so much better off! So that's one thing I plan on working on. I think one of the biggest reasons I don't eat better is because I am lazy. Which leads to the "not wasting time" thing.... I want to get more accomplished! But sitting around isn't going to get it done! I need to turn of the stinking boob tube! Why is TV so dang addicting?! Is it just me? I already know the answer to that. NO. It's a pretty big population. Especially here in America.... LOL if it was less addicting we would be thinner and more productive. So there you go!

As far as the greener living, I would like to start a compost pile, recycle, and use more eco-friendly cleaning solutions. The biggest reason for this is just to have a healthier home. There is no reason to bring all those yucky chemicals into my house and expose my family to them. I know there are amazing options out there for cleaning, laundry, and health and beauty care. I just need to search a little more. Sure it might be tough at first but I truly believe my family and I will be better off in the long run! 

 



wanna see some photos???? ok!

something new....

Man this month is ZOOOOOMING by! Geesh! We've had a great month too :) We've spent incredible time with friends and family, Barrett is growing growing growing, TJ and I are still loving being parents, and we're just trucking along!

On Saturday the 19th, TJ got his parents to watch Barrett overnight while he took me to the Alaskan Inn in Ogden Canyon. He was so sweet by booking us the Northern Lights room which was amazing! When we got there, there were rose petals on the floor and candles and the shabang! Super sweet :) The room was so neat because there were LED lights all over the ceiling and then there was a pretty mural that was painted with paint that glowed in the dark because of a black light. Between those two features, it really did look like the northern lights. [At least what I imagine them to look like, someday I'll see them for real!]

Thursday was Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday! I think I love it so much because people are genuinely grateful for what they have. They aren't "wanting" and "needing" and whining and all that baloney that comes with Christmas and so many other seasons. I really think the world would be a more incredible place if we all were more thankful for what we have and more content. We have become so incredibly wrapped up with wanting "bigger", "newer", "faster" and it's sad. Trust me, I'm not saying I am not included in that "we" because I absolutely am..... I am basically just making an observation....

Anyway, on turkey day we went to the Plain City Fire Department and ate with a bunch of friends. It was such a great time and we definitely felt blessed. :)

quickie.

dirty you. get your mind out of the gutter! :p I just wanted to give a quick update! Barrett, my dad, and I went to Cali for not quite a week at the end of October.... We had a ton of fun but it was so busy and flew by! We made and canned over 100 quarts of applesauce and then we helped get the house cleaned up because we made quite a mess! :) It was really special to spend time with my grandparents and extended family. :)

Other than that, we haven't been up to too much.... Just working and being our little family. I've really been into cooking lately. :) Yesterday I made baked spaghetti, a huge crock pot full of chili, chicken enchiladas and then {my favorite!} caramel apple bread pudding. TALK ABOUT DELICIOUS! :) So good :)

Then today, we went to the MTC Park in Ogden and Stephanie took some family pictures of us that we're going to send out as Christmas cards. :) As soon as I have them I will show you! :)