Two weeks...

My maternity leave ends in two weeks :(

I get very anxious & sick & want to cry when I think about it. I'm not worried about Sawyer, he is going to be VERY well taken care of by my Nana & Blake's Mema, I'm just going to miss him. I'm going to miss playing with him in the morning when he is the most active & happiest. I'm going to miss taking hundreds of pictures of him during the day because he is just so cute. I am going to miss snuggling with him on the couch during naps in the afternoon. I'm going to miss my baby.

I think mostly though I am really worried about adjusting to working full time, taking care of Sawyer, keeping up with the housework, & spending time with Blake. It's overwhelming to me to think about how to balance it all. I'm sure with a little patience, a lot of prayer, and Xanax, it will all work itself out eventually. These 4 are worth all the stress in the world...

Some people have asked why I don't go back to working 12 hour shifts, 3 days a week like most nurses...but I LOVE my job, I LOVE my co-workers, & I LOVE my patients. I LOVE our program & what it means to our patients & their families. My job is so special & unique. It's unique in that there are only 3 people, my co-workers Kristie & Katie & myself, in the entire state of Arkansas that do what we do. We care for, educate & manage the care of patients with an artificial heart pump called the HeartMate II. Baptist Health is the only hospital in the state to offer this treatment for patients suffering with end stage heart failure who may not survive the wait for a donor heart or who choose this option over having a heart transplant. We currently have just over 40 patients living with this device all over the state. My job is stressful, complex, interesting & so very rewarding. I made this fun little picture for my desk at work...I haven't printed it yet, so this is just a crappy screen shot...

On a happier note, how bout' the beautiful weather we had today!?! Sawyer & I went on a walk around the neighborhood & then we took Izzy & Tess on a car ride. My excited, happy babies ready to go...

 We went to Sonic for happy hour. Izzy & Tess shared an ice water, I indulged in a Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper & Sawyer was just too cute looking at himself in the mirror :)

Hope everyone has a great week. I'm gonna spend every second I can loving on my little man & maybe a Pinterest craft or two ;)

xoxo - the Barnett's

Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

Izzy & Tess are 3 years old today!!!

 Our sweet boxer babies the day they were born...

Here are Izzy & Tess together on the day we went to pick Izzy up. At the time we did not know that Tess would be coming to live with us 9 months later...

 Our first family photo...

Thier other sister Breezee lives with my in-laws. She & Izzy were BFF as puppies...

Tess came to live with us just before the girls first birthday in 2010. We had a huge first birthday party for them! It was so fabulous & so much fun! If we're friends on FB, I believe their is a photo album of all the party pics if you care to see :)

This morning we gave the girls their presents & birthday treat!

Izzy & Tess have been soooo good with Sawyer! They will try to give him lots of kisses but otherwise they don't really mess with him. They will cuddle with him occasionally...

Sawyer loves looking at them & watching them play...

 Izzy tries to get him to play with her by laying her toys on him if she has the chance :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IZZY PRINCESS & TESS GUMP!! WE LOVE YOU!

xoxo - the Barnett's



Our week in pictures...

On SUNDAY we went to the Battistone's to watch the football playoffs...

On MONDAY, Sawyer went to the 9th grade!! My little sister did a report on the development of an infant & Sawyer was her visual aide!

On TUESDAY, I finally decided to tackle this...

 It's a stack of CRAP important papers that needed to be filed. Some of this dated all the way back to JUNE!! Pitiful I know. Here's my progress after an hour..

WEDNESDAY the weather was crummy so we just played & watched tv. We did have to take Izzy to the vet that afternoon. Dr. B was way more excited to meet Sawyer though (I wish I had a picture of them together!) She called us when we were in the hospital when Sawyer was born to check on him & request that we text her a picture. Who's vet does that?!? She's the best!!

 THURSDAY was another lazy day...

 And I made this delicious baked potato soup in the slow cooker...

I found the recipe on Pinterest. I have a new gadget on the right side of my page you can click on to follow me on Pinterest if you want :)

Sawyer slept from 9:30 last night until 5:30 this morning, had a 6oz bottle then went back to sleep from 6:30 to 8!! Crazy! He has never slept that long. I woke up of course every couple hours to check on him. Here's my handsome little guy this morning...

Ignore the spit up stain on the front of his onesie :)

I'm debating on making a quick trip to Little Rock to do some shopping today & tonight we are going out to dinner with Blake's friend from work & his wife.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

xoxo - the Barnett's

** just an FYI - colored words are links to other blogs or websites that will open in another window if you click them :)

Happy Birthday J-Pa....

We love you & hope you have a fantastic day!!

xoxo - the Barnett's

2 months

Sawyer is 2 months old today!! How is that even possible?!? He has grown & changed so much this past month so brace yourself for a long post & picture overload!

We started our day extra early today because his 2 month check-up was at 8:30 this morning! We got the monthly mini photo shoot over with before we left for the doctors office...

He didn't want to cooperate with me all too well, he was more interested in looking at the wall than the camera. This is how he was feeling at the end of the shoot...

 Here are the stats from today's appointment:

Weight: 10 lbs 8.6oz (25th percentile)

Height: 22 3/4 inches (44th percentile)

Head circumference: 15 inches

Dr. B says you are right where you should be & look great!

MiMi (my mom) went with us to the appointment today because you had to get your first round of vaccines & I don't think I could have handled it on my own! One of the vaccines was an oral solution so you didn't mind that at all, but Ms. Ashley had to poke you 3 times for the others. MiMi helped hold you still while I looked out the window :) You barely cried after the first stick, but with the second stick (2 needles on 1 syringe) you let out a much bigger, more pitiful cry :( It did not last long though, as soon as Ms. Ashley put the band-aid on, MiMi picked you up and snuggled you & you went right to sleep!

Here are some of the things you've been up to the past month:

You celebrated your first Christmas...

 and New Years...

You have really started to smile & "talk" alot which is probably the cutest thing ever! You love, love, love to be talked to!

You like playing on your activity mat. You swing your arms & are able to hit the rattle that hangs down from the middle. It also has a mirror on it that you like looking at...

 You are such a strong boy & hold your head up really well. You are able to sit up in your Bumbo seat for a couple minutes at a time...

- you are wearing size 1 diapers

-you are eating 4-5 oz. of formula every 3-4 hours during the day & 6 oz. at bedtime

-you sleep about 5-6 hours straight during the night

- I don't have you on a strict schedule but we have a pretty good routine. You wake up sometime between 6 & 8 and have a bottle, it really just depends on when you get to bed at night & when you have had your middle of the night bottle. After your breakfast bottle, you stay awake and play in the swing or on the activity mat while mommy does some house cleaning. Then we play some more, either I will sit & talk with you or hold you while we dance to music videos :) After all that, you will take a bottle around 10-11am then lay down for a long nap (3-4 hours). When you wake up, its bottle/play & repeat. I start giving you your bedtime bottle about 8:30pm. Sometimes you go right to sleep after, other times you will lay in the bassinet and look around & kick & coo until you fall asleep.

-You are still sleeping in the bassinet next to our bed

-You can still wear some of your newborn outfits but mostly you wear size 0-3 month clothes

-We've started giving you gas drops when you need them. I usually alternate gas drops & gripe water

-You still get the hiccups once or twice a day

-You sometimes spit up a lot after a bottle, I asked Dr. B today about it & he says it sounds like your doing ok & doesn't believe you have reflux, babies just spit up he says

-We tried you on some thicker formula earlier this month for that, but it really messed your tummy up so we went back to just regular formula (Similac Advance)

-You recognize mine & daddy's voices

- You will follow us across the room with your eyes if we walk past you

-I trimmed your nails this week for the first time but you woke up this morning with 2 new scratches on your face so I may need to file them some

-Another SUPER CUTE thing that has happened -You've discovered your tongue! You will just be laying there sometimes sticking your tongue in & out. You will also mock daddy & me when we stick our tongue out at you! Seriously, its THE cutest thing ever!!

Sawyer, how are you already 2 months old?!?! You have grown & changed so much over the past month its unreal. You are much more active & playful. Your little personality is really starting to come out. Talking & playing with you & watching your expressions is so fun! Some people like to say you are spoiled, I say you just love your momma ;)

Daddy & I love you most!!

xoxo - the Barnett's

Just a swingin'

Sawyer is really starting to like his swing finally!

I usually put him in the swing in the morning after his breakfast bottle & he will stay content there for about 30-45 minutes. I really love this swing because the seat swivels easily. If we turn him to the left he can look out the window & to the right he can see the TV. If we leave the seat straight forward he looks into the living room & kitchen & watches whatever we are doing.

Izzy & Tess like when he's in the swing because it is just the right height for them to walk up & try to sneak kisses.

Check back on Friday afternoon for Sawyer's 2 month post!

xoxo - the Barnett's

Weekend Recap...

We had a really nice, laid back weekend. We did a lot of cleaning & watched a lot of tv...I watched Jersey Shore for the first time & whew! What a hot mess!

My mom & nana go out to eat once a month with my great aunt & cousins, we took Sawyer & met them all for lunch at Applebee's on Saturday. We had a good time despite the crappy service...it took 20 minutes to get a beer from the bar & my food, a club sandwich, was not brought to me until the other eleven people at the table were practically finished with their food. I got my meal for free :)

After lunch we made a trip to Sam's to stock up on junk food & to Babies R Us to buy a replacement charger for our baby monitor, that we haven't even used, that I somehow managed to misplace/throw away. Blake gets HIGHLY irritated with me for putting things away & then not remembering where I put them. I've searched everywhere in this house for that charger so I'm convinced it was thrown out by mistake. We saved the box & receipt for the new one just in case I come across it :)

Saturday night some friends came over with their babies to hang out.

Blake & Aaron playing Wipeout on Kinect...

 I think Aaron jumped so high he hit his head on the ceiling fan! :)

Sunday afternoon Blake's parents came over to visit for a while then we went out to dinner with them @ Mexico Chiquito.

We counted Monday as part of the weekend since Blake was off work. He went & borrowed his parents Rainbow vacuum with all the fancy attachments to do some "deep cleaning". We have a Dyson vacuum that I thought did a pretty fantastic job, we just used it Sunday, but when Blake used the Rainbow he still got up a lot of dust...it grossed us out! We've decided to get this carpet up ASAP & have tile placed. I can't wait!!

Since it was so warm Monday afternoon, we took Sawyer for a walk around the neighborhood. He loved being outside & looking around!

 After our walk, Blake cooked dinner then we went to Lemon Tree for dessert. We got in bed before 7:30 & watched a few episodes of Big Bang Theory on DVD before we all crashed! Perfect evening to end the weekend if you ask me!

xoxo - the Barnett's

2012 Cotton Bowl Champs!!

We are soooo happy the Razorbacks won the Cotton Bowl & finished the season with an 11-2 overall record! This was such a great footbal season for the Hogs & the SEC all together!

We had some friends & family over to watch the game Friday. I'm so mad at myself for not getting the camera out & taking pictures of our guests during the party :( I had great intentions, but I just get too caught up watching the game & talking to think about bothering people with pictures. I really plan on doing better!

I did take a picture of my table before the food & everyone got here...

...And a family picture during half-time before Sawyer got changed into his pj's...He was kinda fussy if you can't tell...

...and after the party, all my babies passed out...

Congrats to the Razorbacks!! WPS!!

xoxo - the Barnett's

Happy Birthday Nana!!

A couple weeks ago my family all went out to eat together to celebrate Nana's birthday!

We very rarely get the entire family together so it was nice to have dinner with everyone & it was quite the surprise for Nana!

We hope you had a very Happy Birthday Nana!!

We love you soooo much!!

xoxo - the Barnett's