What a week...

What a week the Perry's have had! We continued the August birthday celebra-thon with Mommy's birthday on Monday. Gammie came to Jackson and took Barnes and me to lunch and then she was sweet enough to stay that night so Brad and I could have a dinner out for my birthday. We went to the new Mexican restaurant, Coyote Blues (Yummo!). It was delish. Brad and Barnes spoiled me with wonderful gifts... a new pair of sunglasses and a new iMac computer. Very exciting. Barnes also made something special for me... A BIG MESS! See photo #1 below.

He got into my cabinet under the bathroom sink and found baby powder and had a fun time. He also pumped out lots of lotion in the cabinet and rubbed it all in the powder to make a paste. Little monkey! Funny thing is that I did this same thing when I was about his age. I was at my grandmother's house taking a nap and my mom and grandmother came in to check on me (I had been "sleeping" a long time). I had been able to reach the baby powder off the dresser next to the crib and I had it all over me and the bed and half the room. I'm glad the bottle Barnes found was a travel size, he had the entire thing emptied in under 4 minutes.

Our next eventful happening of the week was the air going out Monday afternoon! No AC and being 8 months pregnant isn't fun! They came to fix it Tuesday and what happened?? It went out again that night, sleeping in 79 degree heat was miserable! Wednesday morning, we saw a familiar face, the air guy again! He fixed the unit shortly after lunch and we were back in business.

The icing on the cake was that Wednesday morning, Barnes woke up with a 101 fever. At this point I'm beginning to think that 32 maybe isn't my year! Hes been under the weather all week and now I have his cold! Lets keep our fingers crossed that Daddy doesn't get it.

By Friday our week was looking up! We went to breakfast while the housekeeper was here so we could get out of our way. We also went to Spoil Me Rotten to see their new fall items. While we were there, Barnes kept gathering little items and taking them to the counter saying, "Buy! Buy!" Mostly he kept taking these little coin purses to the counter. When we were ready to leave we put them all back (or so I thought). Later that afternoon, I found a little coin purse tucked into the side pocket of my baby bag. My sweet boy is a thief! We called and fessed up to the crime and returned it.

One other side note, progress has begun on Barnes' big boy room! The painter came and painted one wall and the ceiling. I cant wait for it to all come together. He's excited about it.

Hope each of you have had a better week than we have. But all in all, I must say we are blessed and as my mom always says, "this too shall pass!"

Barnes' big mess he made for my birthday

about to blow out the candles- notice the cake says MMY - wonder who ate the MO?

my poor little sick boy

The "HOT" item BBP stole!

BBP room before paint

after paint

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Daddy turned a year older (36) on Monday and he was off work so we got to enjoy one more day of vacation with him and celebrate his birthday! We took daddy to the Casey Jones Train Museum so Barnes could play and show daddy how much he loves the trains. Then we took daddy to lunch and Buffalo Wild Wings (his choice of course)! Barnes helped me make daddy a cake. He is quite the little pastry chef.

There aren't enough words to say how special daddy is to us. He is Barnes' hero and my dear husband and best friend. He works tirelessly to provide for us and never complains a minute about pitching in to help with bath time or dishes after dinner. I am so blessed to have such a true partner in this life we have together.

Testing the cake
our birthday boy

I LOVE this photo. Notice how BBP is looking up at daddy like he hung the moon.

We think he did just that and more. :)

Family of Three

The Perry family took our last vacation as a family of three... it was a magical week! We didn't want to leave. I actually cried our last night there (thanks prego hormones)! I had looked forward to the vacation so much and it was so fun, I was just disappointed it had to be over. It was our last vacation as the family we are now. I know we will have LOTS of vacations when our new arrival gets here in the years to come but this one just felt different. Sweet in a way. I cant explain it really.

I cannot say enough great things about the Waterscape resort on Okaloosa Island, which is just between Fort Walton Beach and Destin. It is the BEST place for kids ever. They have multiple kid pools including a baby pool that's probably not even a foot deep. As you will see in the pictures, Barnes had an amazing time. He was an angel while we were there (except for a few two year old moments)! Brad and I had the best time relaxing and watching him enjoy and discover so many new things. Our pool at home is now boring compared to what he's experienced on Vacation. Maybe Daddy will think about putting in a slide for us next summer!

We played on the beach, built sandcastles, buried trucks and dinosaurs and trains and then dug them up to discover them all over again! Barnes realized how much he loves the sand and I realized how much I hate it! But I will get over it because he thinks its divine. We had front row chairs on the beach everyday, though in all honesty we spent most of our time at the pool. The water had some green algae in it several of the days we were there. Barnes did love getting in the ocean and looking for fish. He would say, "hi, fish!"

Thanks to daddy for finding us a great place to stay and for taking us on vacation. What wonderful memories were made for our family.

walking the beach

feeding alligators at Fudpuckers (BBP loved this!)

Relaxing while watching Curious George (we found him like this in the bed!)

Mommy and Barnes enjoying a snack at the pool

BBP driving his trucks in the octopus' arms

Playing on the beach

Playing in the baby pool area

Splash!

eating lunch while daddy checks some email

our little dare devil

Daddy was the self appointed life guard

daddy got up and surprised us with donuts

my sweet boys little two year old foot

Our three feet together - next time we go to the beach it will be four

snoozing on the way home

Barnes was SOOO sad all the way home. He cried a lot of the way home and kept saying,
"beach, beach" and "way, way." When he says, "way," he means we are going the wrong way. He knew we were leaving the beach and wanted to go back.

After a very long nine hour drive, he realized we were almost

home when we turned off of HWY 412

and he started clapping and saying, "home, home, home!"

Vacation was amazing but its always nice to come home.

Thanks to all who read.

Tan Lines!

Well, we got some sun today! As you can see...

I Happy! I Happy!

We're on vacation and having a blast! We drove the 9 hours to Okaloosa Island (just outside Destin, FL) yesterday and Barnes is now a professional traveler.

Things we learned on a 9 hour car trip with our two year old:

1. BBP isn't going back to sleep no matter what time we leave.

(we left at 4am so it would be dark and he would go back to sleep. Ha!)

2. Barnes says, "I Happy, I Happy" A lot when traveling to the beach

3. A donkey makes the EEE-AWWW sound!

(learned at 6:20 am somewhere in no where Mississippi!)

4. Don't place the Buzz Lightyear race track within the child's reach in the car or you will hear, "To Infinity and Beyond!" at least 900 times before 6:35 am

5. 11:03 am: BBP has his first YooHoo chocolate drink and loves it.

"Hoo Hoo," is all he can say for at least 20 miles.

6. At 5:48 pm Barnes has slept two hours since we left at 4 am but hes still in a perfect mood. We are trapped in the condo due to a heavy thunderstorm.

Mommy is getting nervous the mood won't last!

7. At 7 pm the storm finally lifts, we have eaten dinner and so we go out to the beach for our first REAL look at it. He LOVES it. Loves the sand, the ocean, the waves, the wind in his hair. He says, "I Happy, I Happy!" the whole time we are outside. What could be more perfect to a parent than hearing that from their child? I Happy too. :)

8. Barnes finally went to bed around 8:30. He was outstanding all day. With such a lack of sleep I would have never expected him to be so patient, happy and good natured all day.

Book we purchased before coming to the beach. He loves it!
BBP waving to camera somewhere in Alabama

Showing Melman (from Madagascar) the ocean when we finally saw it!

View from our room, the pool area is amazing! A lazy river, two kid pools and more!

Daddy and Barnes in the water for the first time

Choo Choo!

Today we went to the Casey Jones Museum in an effort to get out of the house but also stay out of this heat! Just after we arrived, our friends and neighbors just happened to show up too! Barnes got to see his friends Isabelle and Annette and their new baby brother William. (Mom, Elle just had baby last Thursday!! Needless to say I'm impressed!) Don't look for that to happen at the Perry house this fall when our baby comes.

Barnes has been talking obsessively about Choo Choo's since the weekend when we found a Thomas the Train DVD in the sale bin at Wal-Mart. He loves trains. Anytime we see a train he gets so excited.

He had a blast at the Museum. Most of the museum is very historical and not something he had much interest in, but they have a big locomotive in the back that the kids can actually ring the bell on, There's also a little house that shows how people lived in the early 1900's. It was all very fun and a change of our daily pace.

The inside of the museum has a gift shop with a play area for kids that includes two train tables and TONS of train memorabilia you can purchase. Barnes played for almost an hour at the train table and had so much fun pushing the little trains on the wooden tracks.

As soon as Daddy got home tonight Barnes couldn't wait to tell him about the Choo Choo! He got so excited telling him about it all. He even said he rang the bell.

Even though it was 103 degrees (actual temperature!) here in Jackson today, we beat the heat and had fun playing Choo Choo!

Barnes ringing the bell! Thanks to Belle and Annette's daddy for helping him.

Beside the Choo Choo!
Playing at the train table with Annette and Isabelle

Concentrating!

Having a great time