Sping is here

Spring has finally decided to arrive and we are so happy about that. Here is a peak at some of the things that we have been up to.

A couple weekends ago we watched the Apple Blossom parade. Josh and I took Branson to the youth parade and he loved it so much we decided that we should take him to the Grand Parade the next weekend. It was fun to watch the parade with The Grillos, The Sandersons, Jason, Sue and Kathy.

Thanks to Uncle Jason for helping me keep Branson out of the street

The weather has been so nice the first thing that Branson wants to do each morning is go outside. Here he is still in his pajamas coloring with his chalk from the Easter Bunny

Just like in the previous post B loves riding on the tractor with his daddy. Our lawn mower is much louder than Grandpa's so Daddy makes sure that Branson wears ear protection when riding with him.

Josh and I wanted some time to do a pilates video so we gave Branson a snack to keep him entertained. He will eat anything that he can dip things in, he mostly eats the dip and while he is dipping he says dip, dip, dip.

Last Saturday we woke up to some serious rain, after spending so much time outside last week Branson wanted to go outside. After trying to tell him that we couldn't go outside because of the rain I decided that we would just go out and have some fun. Branson loved splashing in all the puddles.

Dr. Ben

Last week Ben graduated from Medical School. We were wishing that we could be there to celebrate with everyone when we learned the next best thing. The U of M was streaming it live.

Branson loved watching and cheering for Uncle Ben.

My sis and her adorable family after the ceremony.

Babies, Birthdays and Bunnies

Easter weekend was the perfect weekend for us to head over the mountains to visit my parents.

Saturday Baby Girl Layton was due so we went to visit Sarah and Brian, but baby girl must not have wanted to meet us yet because she decided to stay put in mama for another week.

Saturday afternoon was my high school friend Keri's baby shower. It was great to catch up with some of the ladies that I don't see nearly often enough.

Sunday was my mom's birthday. Cast and all She made her own birthday dinner and dessert and we all enjoyed eating it.

The Easter Bunny found B at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He loved digging into his basket then did a quick egg hunt with Auntie Kati and Uncle Forrest.

We couldn't have asked for better weather when we were there. Branson loved running in and out of the house, weeding with Daddy and grandpa and of course riding on the "tractor" with Grandpa.

Best Friends

Branson loves playing with his friend Dakota. Sometimes She gets to come visit us when her mom has to work. When Holly was here a couple weeks ago Dakota came to play. She and Branson dumped out the toy box and closed themselves in the bedroom.

When Holly went in to check on them this is what she found.

Weekend Fun

Our weekend started off with some fun at the school carnival here in town.

We participated in the cake walk

Branson went fishing

I apologize for the blurriness of the next photos, but I want to post them anyway. My adorable son got his grimy hands on the camera.

Holly ran the 10k at the Wenatchee Marathon so B, Sue and I went to cheer her on. I love Branson with his coffee cup and keys in hand.

Holly telling us one more mile left.

Holly did awesome and watching all the runners made me very excited to start running again after this baby is born.

Month in Review

The end of March Mom ended up having surgery on her hand/wrist and Branson and I went over to help. I am not sure how much of a help we were, but at least we kept Grandma entertained.

The first weekend in April was my Grandma's birthday, so we tagged along with Mom and Dad (once again saying that we were helping mom) and went to help Grandma celebrate.

I had to steal the next few pictures from Uncle Bruce since I have been terrible at taking any lately.

Branson loved the dessert at the Mexican restaurant.

Then we we got home he had more sugar! I am surprised he ever settled down that night.

I figure that if grandparents get to spoil their grandchildren then great grandparents really have that right. Grandma let Branson dig into the cake while sitting on her lap.

Happy Birthday Grandma

The next day Uncle Bob took B to see the cows. He was so excited to go that when I told him he had to put his coat on first he put in on backward.

We left it that way and it didn't seem to bother him

Last weekend Forrest and Kate came for a visit (once again no pictures) :( But we had a great time. Josh spent the day with the guys snowboarding while the girls got in some quality catch up time.

This weekend is the Wentachee Marathon and Holly is coming to town for it. We can't wait to see her and cheer her on.

Check out our house blog for more updates on what we have really been up to and some great pictures of the little man.

Sleep

I don't know if it is the time change or what, but my 18 month old has decided that he no longer needs naps. One night it finally caught up to him and he fell asleep during dinner. I have seen pictures of other peoples children falling asleep while eating and always thought How does that happen?!

Thankfully, this week has been better as far as sleeping goes. I just had to post these pictures because they are just so adorable.

Happenings

Last weekend B and I tagged along with Mom while she took a load of Holly's stuff to her new place. We are loving the fact that Holly is within driving distance now.

Grandma shared her ice cream cone with Branson on the drive. It did a great job of keeping him entertained, but he was a mess by the time he was finished.

We stayed in a hotel since Holly is still getting settled in her place. Auntie Holly kept B entertained while I got ready the next morning by jumping between beds with him. He thought this was pretty great.

He had a fun night away and even enjoyed seeing Auntie Patty and Uncle Mahlon who were in Spokane at the state basketball tournament.

By the time we got home on Saturday B and I were both exhausted. By Sunday I had to admit that what I was feeling was more than just pregnancy sickness. Sure enough I went to the doctor on Monday and was diagnosed with Influenza. Branson had a runny nose and a cough all week and was one tire little boy. After a long nap one afternoon he climbed on the couch and fell back a sleep. Those of you who know my son knows that this doesn't happen. We had to get a picture to prove that it did happen and just because he looked so sweet.

Branson's Potty

Branson found his potty chair in storage with the other baby stuff. He was so interested in it that Josh moved it upstairs to the bathroom. He loves to sit on it and typically sits on it after we get him undressed before he gets in the tub.

Branson usually feeds himself dinner then goes directly in the bath after dinner. Here he is taking his potty break first.

Since I have been pregnant he has been pretending to throw up in his potty.

Another August Birthday

August is already a month of celebrations for us. It starts out with my birthday, then Josh's birthday. Towards the end of month we celebrate Branson's birthday, then our anniversary. This does not include our siblings and parent's birthdays. We just want to add a little more fun to the month, Baby Barnes #2 is due August 2011.

Ag Expo

Here are a few of the pictures that we have from our time at the Ag Expo.

Everything that is big and moves is a "truck" to Branson. He loves "trucks" and was in heaven at the Ag Expo getting to explore them all. As you can tell by the next few pictures He checked out every inch of all of them.

He loves riding on shoulders and was content sitting on daddy while he talked to some customers. This was the only way to contain him since there was a tractor right across from the Barnes Welding booth that he would run for whenever he got a chance.

Our little family.

Favorites

Last time we were at Dad and Mom's they captured a couple shots of Branson and Charlie that I loved. If you remember from our previous post B and C were watching "Thomas." Branson thought it was pretty funny.

The next couple pictures Bethany sent me from when they were out in August.

Last week was the Ag Expo. B and I tagged along with Josh and Grandpa for a couple days. It was very cold while we were in Spokane so B borrowed daddy's hat.

Chasing the geese on our walk to the Convention Center.

These are the only pictures that I have from the Ag Expo, we took some of B playing in all the tractors with Dave's camera and if I can get a hold of them I will post them too.

Christmas Time

The day after Christmas we headed to see Charlie. Ben and Bethany were visiting for a few days so we took advantage of that to see Charlie...and the Beebs too.

Branson was worn out after a few big days celebrating the holidays here, so Auntie Bethany let him watch some Thomas the Tank Engine which made him a very happy boy. Charlie joined him.

This is what he does when he see trains "TOOT"

We went to visit Great Grandpa and Grandma

We love Charlie! Isn't he adorable in his sleeping position with his hands behind his head?!

B loves Charlie too. They are going to be best friends. He liked to rock Charlie, make sure Charlie had his pacifier and share his toys.

B's favorite place to play at my parent's houses is the new bathroom. I lost him for a while and found him working with Grandpa.