Kitchen renovations and "big butts"

What can I say? Kitchen renovations distracted me from blogging for the last two months. WE ARE NOW FINISHED. All new hardwood for the entire first floor, new kitchen cabinets, new kitchen counters, new vanity and mirror in the bathroom, all new light fixures, and all new furniture in the family room and kitchen. Needless to say, our lives have been in shambles for weeks now! Believe it or not, I'm sick of eating out... (Kitchen pics will be posted on my Flickr account soon!)

Theo is now two years old and is as precocious as ever. His vocabulary is exploding, and he's talking in more and more complete sentences everyday. Recent favorites include, "Ready, set, go," and "Knock, knock!" He is also very into comparing big and little things, which was fine until the day he came up to me, pointed at my butt and said, "Big butt?" That was the day that I decided to eat only celery for the rest of the summer. (Don't worry, that thought was out of my head by dinner time.)

The official start of summer was mostly met with our home improvements and yucky weather. The poor boy hasn't been to the pool once this summer! Too hot, too cold, too rainy, too many walls needing to be painted in the kitchen! Fortunately, we've managed to squeeze in some great playdates with many of our favorite peeps. One of our favorite playdates were with Uncle Craig and Aunt Amy straight from Jakarta! It was so nice to get to hang out with them when they were home for some R&R. Also, we were happy to have Granny SuSu visit for a whole week in the beginning of June! With her visit we were able to celebrate a great second birthday at our favorite Korean restaurant. Theo got many great gifts... including his very first fish, which he promplty named Bruce. Yes, he's still obsessed with Finding Nemo, but we've managed to broaden his horizons to also include Wall.E, Toy Story, and Star Wars. Andy feels it's never to early to start Jedi training, especially since the kid already owns 4 lightsabers!

Here are some of our latest pics - May was a light month but we picked up the pace in June!

May: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68847421@N00/sets/72157620698420647/detail/

June: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68847421@N00/sets/72157620871007556/detail/

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Happy spring?

Where did April go? Is Spring here yet?!?!?! Why so many questions about the weather and the time of year??? BECAUSE I'M SICK AND TIRED OF COLD WEATHER AND RAIN! So is Theo, poor kid can't wait to be outside as much as possible!

As the Barretts try to survive the swine flu (and the extreme paranoia) that has infilitrated our sweet little suburb, we also are focused on the last few weeks of school, a certain young man's second birthday, and the pending remodel of our kitchen and family room. Andy and I continue are streak of pure crazy as we plan to rip out floors, cabinets, and countertops to start our summer. All I can say is that it will be a lot of work, but I CANNOT wait to destroy the ceramic tile that is the bane of my existence...

Since being the world's cutest ring bearer, Theo has had a visit from the Easter Bunny, become an expert tooth-brusher, and now enjoys "cooking" with his mommy. (Hold the laughter please, we all know I don't cook!) He's also becoming more social by the day... always asking to see friends like Bobby and Emma. I think we're in for a busy summer with lots of playdates around town!

Link to latest pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/68847421@N00/sets/72157617596991484/detail/

And a little video:

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Gotcha day!

One year ago today, Theo joined Andy and I forever! Andy said it best, "It feels like yesterday and a million years ago all at the same time."

It's hard to believe that exactly one year ago Mrs. Yang, Theo's foster mom, was placing him in my arms during the Giving and Receiving Ceremony at Eastern. Remembering that moment is still surreal, still bittersweet. We were receiving the best gift anyone could ever give us, while at the same time taking our sweet little boy from the only home he had ever known. Andy and I look forward to the day we can take Theo back to Korea, to meet with Mrs. Yang and the folks at Eastern once again, and show them what a wonderful little person he is turning into.

Here are some of our first moments together as a family:

Here are some pics from our first Gotcha Day celebration:

Happy Gotcha Day Theo!

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Back on track

After being a rotten blogger for the past two months, I have full intentions of mending my ways to keep Sir Theo's fans fully updated on his latest moments of cuteness... or, since he is almost two, moments of NOT so cute!

We have had a busy few months in the Barrett house. I have finished my last technology class for my master's, YEE-HAW. The last few weeks of the program were extremely busy, but now it's over and I have that much more time to spend with The Boy! Andy is also back in class down at U of I becoming more brillant as the weeks go by. Which brings me to Theo...

At last post we had just returned from our awesome Disney trip. Theo still likes to bust out his Mickey ears and wear them around the house. I can't imagine who encourages such behavior???? He also has a new bike and basketball hoop that we have actually been able to use with some of our warmer weather days. Current sporting education also includes football- he's quite the studly quarterback when we have a chance to play but I think his prospects of becoming a wide receiver are yet to be determined.

The biggest news of late is the fact that Theo got to be the world's cutest ring bearer in a wedding this month. The wedding required a weekend trip to Omaha, which now means Theo has logged more miles on an airplane in one year than Andy has his entire life! =) Regardless, we had a great time in Omaha for our friends' Zach and Robyn's wedding. While the nontraditional approach to the wedding spared Theo from walking down an actual aisle, he still stole the show with some wicked dance moves at the wedding reception. This will be well reflected in Robyn and Zach's wedding pictures... I'm not sure if the photographer was aware that it was their big day as he was so busy taking millions of pictures of Theo!

We're closing in on Theo's Gotcha Day which is April 6th. It's hard to believe that he's been home for one year! It's as amazing today as it was in those first few weeks home to see him do whatever he's doing. I continually try to be objective, but this kid's got some serious genius in his brain! His latest hobbies, other than football with Daddy, include counting to 10 (working on it), singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star(more like Tinkle, Tinkle), taking pictures with Mama's camera when she's not looking, and having light saber battles with anyone who's up to the challenge. Now, before you go thinking he's a perfect child, let's take a look at some of his other recent hobbies... "NO." Yep, saying no, ignoring no, wanting no, giving no, NO!!!! We've had an increase in whining as well, and why oh why must he grunt when he wants something?!?!? Even more special is the fact that Theo has now taken something special away from Andy and I... the oratory stylings of sailors and truck drivers. Yes, my darling son dropped his first f-bomb in the car after hearing Andy say it. We looked at each other in shock and dismay, not so much because Theo said it, but because we had not anticipated the loss of our freedom of speech so early in our career as parents. Aahh, the sacrifices we make...

Here's our latest pics! http://www.flickr.com/photos/68847421@N00/sets/72157616011242637/detail/

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Delays and Dole Whips

Well, I guess it's happened for real! I'm off my blogging schedule... ARGH. Okay, I'll try to get back into the once-a-month groove soon. In my defense, January was not all that exciting in the Barrett house!

Yes, the new year started out rather calmly. We had a few playdates, Theo experienced his first Super Bowl, Andy and I both headed back to class, and we dealt with frigid temperatures and way too much snow! How's that for a summary in brief?

More exciting than the whole month of January, was Theo's first trip to Disney World!!!!!!! I broke my own "not until they're old enough to remember it" rule and had the best time with my boy at The World! Even more exciting than that, was the fact that Andy, Theo, and I were joined with Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Laura, and Granny Sue. Yes, that's right... all seven of us vacationed together for 5 days! AND stayed in the same room! AND everyone loves each other still!!! Wahoo. The group stayed in a 2-bedroom villa at the Old Key West Resort at WDW. Needless to say, we were all very spoiled with the accommodations, as the villa was bigger than my and Andy's first house. Beyond our posh quarters, was great weather, low crowds, and an absolute wonderful time! Theo's favorites included Dumbo, the Seas with Nemo and Friends, and Playhouse Disney Live. He also braved Pirates of the Carribean, the Kilinmanjaro Safari, and meeting the Mouse in person. He was SO good on the trip, very few tears and no tantrums. Grandma Jane and Grandpa Jeff also enjoyed their first trip to WDW immensely. My personal favorite of the trip was the fact that we got Jane to ride roller coasters! I have never laughed so hard on a ride as when we took Jane on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad... it was well worth the cost of the whole trip for that one ride!

Upon our arrival home Theo decided it was time to get sick - croup and a sinus infection. The best part of that was the fact that he broke out in head-to-toe hives as a result of the sinus infection! It must be just so much fun to scare the pants off of mom and dad. In spite of the magic of Disney World, we are also starting to experience temper tantrums. OH JOY. As a matter of fact, he currently is throwing one as I type (I'm such a great mom aren't I?) because his Slinky won't do what he wants it to. There is definite foot-stomping, and we may see some flailing soon. Can you stay stubborn and strong-willed?

As always here are our latest pics:
January -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68847421@N00/sets/72157613783453703/detail/
WDW -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68847421@N00/sets/72157613780088315/detail/

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