Forgot a few pictures...

I forgot a few pictures from the hospital.

Here is Everett just a few minutes old. Clearly not too happy about the process.

My mom brought Sophia later that afternoon to meet 'baby critter' (that's what she calls him). She was overwhelmed and confused. Not too sure about sharing her family with the new addition.

Welcom Baby Barson

Please welcome 'Everett John Barson'. He was born 2 weeks early on December 23rd at 11:44am. He weighed 7lbs and 14oz, and was 20 inches long. He is a very sweet, pleasant baby who rarely cries and sleeps 2-4 hours at a time. Those of you who knew Sophia as an infant would not believe this baby came from the same parents. We actually made dinner and ate it while he slept in the bouncy chair on the kitchen counter. Again, unheard of when Sophia was his age. John refers to him as his 'tax-break/Christmas present'. He currently has blonde hair and blue eyes. I love his prominent hairline and pursed lips.

Labor and delivery was much more pleasant (as much as it could be) compared to my experience with Sophia. It all went very fast. I started laboring about 5am and we got to hospital around 8am, and he was born shortly thereafter. We were released on Christmas Eve day. He slept the entire way home, once again, something that was unheard of with Sophia...are you getting the picture yet.

Recovery for me has been a challenge especially since I have a toddler and 'grown-up' house to handle. Fortunately, my mom and sister have been a huge help with Sophia and the house up-keep. I feel a little guilty since Everett is such a quiet baby I haven't held him as much as I would like because I am juggling Sophia and recovery. Sophia has unfortunately been very sick. My mom and I took her (and Everett) to the doctors on 12/26 because she was running a fever with runny nose and cough. She was diagnosed with an ear infection and sinus infection. Later that night she was up with a temperature of 103.4 degrees. So, Everett has spent a lot of time in our bedroom sleeping because we don't want him to get sick so young. Sophia is also having trouble sharing and being gentle with him. She is naturally a very strong (physically and personality-wise) toddler with definite opinions and ideas of her own. Again my mom and sister have provided her entertainment to take some of the attention from me holding or nursing the baby. Anyway, here are some photos. More to come...

His hospital beanie had red and green yarn with jingle bells attached. Too cute!

The Spokane Sewing Guild gave us this oversized stocking to 'stuff' our Christmas baby into and photograph. He is such a sport already.

Wide-eyed. Doesn't like changing clothes or diapers so, he is usually very awake during these events. We are still getting accustomed to being urinated on. Let's just say that John is thankful that he wears glasses.

Can you believe that this baby takes a pacifier? Something Sophia never did. See the adorable hairline?

He prefers sleeping slightly propped up in his carseat so, we just secure it into the pack-n-play and he sleeps for several hours at a time.

I am perfecting my swaddling technique. Pretty good huh? He very much prefers this to loose bedding.

Christmas

Well, it took us about 3 entire days to actually celebrate Christmas. With Sophia being sick, addition of the new baby, recovery for me...we sort of opened a few presents each night with family. Sophia was really very patient and helped unwrap all the presents.

Here she is wearing my new slipper/socks, a Barcelona T-shirt from aunt Katie, and a lei from aunt Kim (direct from Maui). She is loading batteries into my new flashlight.

A friend from my mom's work sent Sophia this little kid's laptop and she really loves it. She mostly likes to play music on the jukebox function.

I will appologize in advance for not sending 'thank-yous' to those who sent gifts. I honestly can't recall much of what was given to whom. There were times that gifts we opened when I was feeding the baby. Everything was sometimes a blur. We really do appreciate all the gifts and well-wishes. We feel very blessed with our family and friends!

Pregnancy update

Well, we have about 4 weeks until my due date. Sophia was born on her due date so I have no idea when to expect this newest arrival. The official date is 1/6/07. I honestly 'feel' bigger this time around. The baby is surprizingly more active than Sophia ever was, and I didn't think that was possible. His energetic flops, kicks, and sommersaults are getting pretty painful. Someone actually commented on the baby moving while she was standing next to me in line at the store because he was rolling around so aggressively. The baby gets the hiccups often and tends to wake easily in the early morning. I am really starting to lose sleep now since all I do is try to get comfortable or get up to pee.
John and I were able to tour the two hospitals in town while his parents were visiting. We decided on Deaconess and are 'thinking' about getting ready. We are getting out all the baby gear and setting out the clothing. We ordered bedroom furniture for Sophia so that we can transition her out of the crib into a 'big girl' bed. Cross your fingers for us. Still no name for the baby. We regularly discuss names but can never decide or agree. I think that we are going to just go to the hospital with a few top choices and decide there once we meet him. This is going to drive John nuts. Well, I better go get something done...

Mixin'

Sophia really enjoys something that she calls 'mixin'. I basically supply her with flour, water, and all sorts of other 'ingredients' and she has a blast. She loves to transfer stuff from bowl to bowl with spoons and cups. Her coordination has gotten really good since attending the Montessori so, the potential mess hasn't been as bad as you might think. PS, thanks again Julia for the kids Starbucks apron. She loves it!

Our new front door...

On our way out the door to the 'Pepsi Family Holiday Party' we stopped to take a picture sitting on our front steps. That's our very first front door as a home owner. Pretty cool...except for the mortgage payment;) And yep, we have snow!

"Yo, Waz Up?"

Just a cute picture of Sophia, naked of course and wearing DaDa's stocking cap.

Kid's Room

Here are a few pictures of how we chose to paint the kid's rooms. Sophia's room is a cool-blue room with aquarium and spa colors. I painted this huge tree and stenciled leaves, purple butterflys, and dragonflys near the tree and throughout her room.


The baby's room has a farm animal theme. We went very unisex with the nursery for Sophia so we can actually use everything over again for 'the boy'. So I painted a few farmyard scenes around his 'sawdust' yellow-colored room. The paintings are anywhere from 2'-4' tall. My favorite are the sheep and barn. Yes, there are flowers but...they're BLUE.

Misc Pics

Just a few cute pics of Sophia being Sophia. By the way, John and I had our first parent-teacher conference with Sophia's teacher at the Montessori. Her teach has a BA in child psychology and early childhood education, and she has been working there 5.5 years. Sundi (teacher) told us that Sophia is the most independant, strongest-willed girl she has ever dealt with. Sundi told us that Sophia regularly 'challenges' her and has kept her on her toes. Fortunately, the Montessori philosophy embraces individualism. Now, John and I are having to adjust our parenting a bit to work with Sophia's new found freedom. It has actually been working out better lately. I will tell you that she is so stubborn, she will often refuse to say 'please' for something simply out of spite. Grandma Barson offered her M-n-M's the other day and Sophia refused to say please even though she knew she wouldn't get the candy. She also went an hour sitting on her nap-mat at the Montessori the other day because she refused to say please and ask for help.

This is Sophia helping to clean the bowl after we made sugar cookies. She didn't much care for the cookies once they had been cooked.

This is usually how we find Sophia in the morning. Fortunately, we have convinced her to leave her diaper on. Typically, she strips off her pajamas and chucks them across the room within the first few minutes of shutting her door at bedtime. She generally prefers to be without clothes all through the day as well. Now that she learned to change her own clothes at the Montessori we really battle her desire to strip at home. At this point, I am choosing my battles and we turn up the heat!

Cool Artic Blast

The second weekend after we moved into our new house the furnace broke down. It just so happened to be the beginning of 20-degree winter weather. At least the bedrooms are on the second floor and our gas fireplace has a fan. The furnace was out pretty much Thursday through Monday afternoon until it was fixed. We set-up space heaters in the bedrooms. Here is a picture of Sophia cuddling up against me to warm up in the morning. We even brought out the Pendelton wool blanket that Knud bought us as a wedding gift...super warm.

Cool Appliances

Okay, maybe I am a geek but, I love the fridge we choose. We did quite a bit of research through consumer reports and shopped a lot to finally decide on this french-door, bottom-freezer model. I have never had so much room...seems empty. There is an ice-maker in the bottom freezer which, has several drawers inside. The ice maker is best located here because Sophia can't reach it (and the water) like she can with the 'built-in' door models. Then there is the humidity controled fruit, veggie, and deli drawers. Adjustable, see-through glass shelves...need I say more.

Halloween Chicken

Sophia was dressed as a plump chicken for Halloween this year. Nope, no princesses or fairies for this tom-boy. She had a lot of fun at the mall here in town. The merchants were passing out candy from 5-7pm. Sophia had a blast running around and enjoying what she called 'party time'.

Here is Sophia and Gamma.
She got the hang of saying trick-or-treat really quickly after she learned that these people were actually putting candy in her pumpkin bucket.
Here she is walking with Gamma while sucking on a bite of tootsie roll. She tired out pretty fast and ended up stripping out of her costume to play on the toys later in the evening. She actually lost interest in the candy fairly quickly.

Autumn apple picking and pumpkin patch fun

Gamma, Sophia, and I went up to Green Bluff this autumn to pick apples and play in the pumpkin patches. Green Bluff is just this agricultural area north of Spokane with over 30 participating farms that grow all sorts of stuff. You get a map and drive from farm to farm depending on their specialty and what you hope to buy. We picked load of strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries earlier in the summer.

Sophia is riding the "Tike Train" at the pumpkin patch. The Siemens farm had rides, corn mazes, food, and fall produce.
Here is the tyke train in the distance...
Sophia enjoyed climbing this tree and hanging out in the hollowed out stump. There were folks playing banjos next to her so she was happy to dance along. She finally decided to share the stump-space with another older girl...most likely because this older girl was willing to share her sweet kettle corn.

Spokane Fair

Kim W., Gamma, John, Sophia, and I went to the Spokane (Inland Northwest) Fair. Sophia enjoyed visiting all the farm animals, dancing to bandstand music, riding rides, and eating ice cream.

She wasn't too sure about this ride until she saw that it went "round-n-round".

Here she is eating ice cream on the bench next to Kim. Fresh huckleberry ice cream...yum.

Sophia and DaDa were riding the spinning bears. I couldn't ride due to being pregnant and still slightly ill with a touch of morning sickness. DaDa choose the slowest turning bear so that he could keep his lunch down. She had a blast.

Yeah, yeah...I know...'bout time!

You could say that we've been a little busy lately. We have had several visitors, survived great drama associated with buying the house, even more drama associated with moving into said new house, general school/work, unpacking, painting kid's rooms, shopping for house stuff like blinds, and 'enjoying' the pregnancy. I have been taking photos and have finally processed a few so, now I'll post some.

Kim Whipple came and stayed with us for a week while she was working on her thesis. We are hanging out downtown at Riverfront Park. Here, Kim is wiping off Sophia's face since she 'redirected' the fountain to splash her.

Sophia is rock climbing and walking along a path of bronze fish. She just loves being naked.

Prior to undressing at the fountain, we went down the giant 'red flyer wagon'. Kim was a good sport and went up and down with Sophia.

Here, I am trying to redirect Sophia from 'swimming' with the ducks. QUACK! QUACK!

Chicago...a few weeks ago

We traveled to Chicago a few weeks ago to spend time with John's family. We spent a little time with just about everyone. Many people had not physically seen Sophia since she was a few months old. I enjoyed my very first piece of "authentic" Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. Wow! Talk about cheesy...Sophia loved every bite.

While we were in town we celebrated Grandpa Barson's birthday. He and Sophia wore matching Mrs. Spider eyes. Sophia had to stick her finger in the frosting right away. Wait a second...I am not counting enough candles on that cake! Shouldn't there be 60 or something?

The flash worked a little better on this photo. It got warm for a second there with all that 'hot air' blowing around... ;)

We found a great park for Sophia to unleash her energy fairly close to the hotel. She loved the ducks, and eagerly wanted to swim with them.

Great Grandma Barson lifts Sophia to look at the goldfish. Thanks for the cute outfits from Great Grandma Barson and Aunt Kathie. Sophia had a great time with Aunt Kathie since she has grandkids of her own and had fun toys (and real turtles).


"Up Down!" Sophia worked grandma and grandpa really well on the teeter totter. Everyone had to take turns because the leg burn was a little painful.

Here is Aunt Katie taking her turn with Sophia. We all had a great time and Sophia surely enjoyed all the attention.

Just Checkin In

To Our Devoted Fans...
Yes, we are still alive and kicking. Just extremely busy. New job, new house, cranky toddler, tiring pregnancy, blah, blah, and more blah.

On that note...
I started working at Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) about two weeks ago. This is my first week of instruction. So far so good. Boy, the students just aren't anything like I was back then (i.e. studious and respectful).
Sophia has been staying with Gamma and is having a tough time with the transition. She will be starting at the Spokane Montessori on October 2nd. We are crossing our fingers that she will like the environment (more individualism and choices).
Our house is still under construction and going smoothly. We are looking to move in the last weekend of October. Anyone want to help move...please?
We had a great visit with Kim Whipple (friend from CWU). Sophia really got to enjoy her hanging out. And I enjoyed catching up on my 'old' friend.
Oh yeah, and the pregnancy...fine. Poor "second child"! All is well, I am about 25 weeks now. Getting bigger and bigger, and yet I know that I will get even bigger still. The baby has been moving a lot and keeping me on my toes. Sophia still doesn't want to acknowledge that there is a baby in my 'tummy'. Anyway, more soon and maybe some photos. Ta Ta!

Barson Family News

As most of you already know, we are expecting another baby in January '07. Yep, Sophia will be a big sister. I am approximately 20 weeks pregnant (out of 40 weeks). I guess we have kept a little quiet since I was also hired to be the full-time, tenure track Geology instructor at Spokane Falls Community College last month. I taught for them temporarily last Spring, went through the difficult hiring process, and was offered the position last month. John and I found out we were pregnant after I turned in my application but, before I interviewed. Many stressful discussions later, we still opted to continue trying for the job. Many things concerning the job are currently up in the air. I just told my boss at school and we are trying to work something out regarding the next year (especially winter quarter). The only certainty is that we are having a baby sometime around 1/6/07. Although somewhat stressful, we are excited about both bits of news.
I went in for an early ultrasound just after 16 weeks and took some photos. This photo shows a side profile of the baby. The head is on the right, the red/pink line follows the spine, and the green line follows the length of the legs with the knees bent.


This next photo is really neat because it shows a clear look at the face. You can see where the baby has brought a hand up to the right eye. The red/pink line shows 2 of the 4 chambers developing into the heart (we could see it beating). The green line shows the stomach already filled with fluid.

I have finally started to feel better. I've had fairly severe morning sickness from about 6 weeks to 17 weeks. Much longer than I experienced with Sophia. I have finally starting putting on weight (good for the baby, bad for my bum). Sophia still isn't too sure why we say there is a baby in my belly. When asked "where is the baby?" she replies by raising her hands and saying "ta-da!" (like it's her). I have felt the baby moving for a few weeks now, and just yesterday felt a kick from the outside. I really popped out early with this one. The baby measured a little bigger than Sophia did at 16 weeks. Should be interesting.

I will continue to keep you posted on the baby, house, and the new job. Theres so much going on its hard to manage the blog at times. Thanks to those of you who call me to check in...even though I haven't called you. It's not that I am ignoring you, there just needs to be a few more hours in the day.

House Update 2

Here is the progress on our house as of 8/6/06. Still two months out from completion. This is going to drive me crazy...the waiting...

Sophia and Travis

We traveled to Ephrata last weekend to visit friends. This is a photo of Sophia and her friend Travis. He is 19-20 months old (and has an older brother, Kyle). Sophia had a great time playing, and John and I enjoyed some adult conversation with Ross and Molly. Here Sophia and Travis were sharing dinner. They were really cute together.

Clifford and Cat in the Hat

The area just opened the first Babies R Us last weekend. Sophia and I met Gamma to do a little shopping. I buy a certain brand of shoes there because they make them wider (for Sophia's "Barson" feet ;)). We saw Clifford and Cat in the Hat, and she was really excited to talk to them. So, we waited, and waited to see them. Of course when we reached the characters Sophia was not at all interested in taking a picture with them. As you can see I picked her up and stood with her...as she cried. The second we walked away she was waving and talking to the characters as if they were friends. Too funny! I don't anticipate the visit with Santa to go well this year.