Barrett Gray Jarvis

Barrett turned one on Saturday! It seems so crazy that he has been in our family for an entire year! He is the sweetest little man! He is walking all over the place - and always has the biggest toothy smile!

We had family over on Sunday for cake and ice cream - and Barrett took full advantage of having his own chocolate cake to eat!

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I didn't pay attention to how much cake he really ate...but at least he had fun doing it!

I was thinking back on the last year - remembering all the fun things that have happened...it is crazy to think of all the huge milestones that happen in the first year of life. He started rolling over, sitting up, kneeling, crawling, standing up, walking, talking, eating real food, drinking from a cup, getting teeth...the list could go on and on. I just feel so lucky to be his mom and to have him in our family. He adds such a happy spirit to our home. I love you buddy!

Here is a look back at his first year!

tHaNkFuL...

So - I don't know if it even still counts to say that you are thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday - when it is two weeks past...but I feel like I haven't even had two minutes to update the blog!

We went to Dallas to spend the Thanksgiving break with my family! It was a blast! Two of my brothers and their families live in Dallas. My parents flew in from Florida and my little sister Maren and her family drove up from San Antonio! It was great to have so many of us together ...and really nice of Scott and Richard to host all of us!

Thanksgiving morning we drove downtown to run in the turkey trot! My mom and dad were so nice and walked with the twins and Barrett. Over 35,000 people participated in the trot! It was madness! Devon and I ran with Scott and Maren. When we reached the starting line - the race was already 30 minutes in! My parents were in the very back - since they were pushing a stroller - and I think the race was over an hour in when they passed the starting line!

It was fun to run through downtown! It brought back a few memories. When I was in high school - They Might Be Giants came and did a New Year's Eve concert - my dad, being the good sport that he is, took me and some friends to a club downtown to see them! We ran past the club during the 5k! The twins had fun walking with Grandma and Grandpa and their cousin Lydia. When we finished the race - we went back and met up with them. Cayden and Lydia really wanted to run - so Devon ran the last mile again with them! Cayden was so proud that he ran in the turkey trot! Hadley was content to walk - and even persuaded Grandma to rub her legs at each mile marker! Then she convinced Uncle Scott to carry her on his shoulders the last mile! Barrett pretty much slept through it all! (I know... he is such a hard baby!)

The rest of the break was very relaxing! We had a great time hanging out with everybody. My nephew, Jacob was baptized on Saturday - and it was great to be there for that!

I feel so grateful for all of the wonderful family that I have!

25 degrees and a chance of snow...sounds like 5k weather!

Devon and I ran a 5k together today! It was so fun! (The last time we did a 5k together was a few months after the twins were born...and we walked it with the stroller!) It was very cold! The temperature was about 24 degrees when we left the house this morning. When we were lining up to start the race... it started snowing! (just flurries - no blizzards) A few minutes into the race we warmed right up!

We didn't actually cross the finish line at the exact same time (I beat Dev by 6 seconds...oh yeah!) - but we got a picture at the finish line to show that we did it! I know for all the hard core racers - this isn't a great time... but for me - I was proud of my time! It is my first 5k since before Barrett was born! The best was running it together! I think it was one of our most fun dates!
This is Garron - he's 12 - and he beat us by about 10 minutes! He was also in my primary class a few years ago! It was fun to see him at the race - he is part of the Willard running club - I wish I would have taken a picture of the back of his shirt - all the kids in the club were wearing them - it says "Our sport is your sport's punishment" - isn't that funny ?!?

So...even though it was super cold - it felt great to run again!

Another Cleaning Product Shout Out...

So...technically an air freshener is not a cleaning product...but it makes your house smell great! These are the best! They have a ton of different scents - each air freshener has two scents that alternate. I love, love, love them!

The other new thing that I have found ... the toilet cleaning gel - I am undecided on these. I bought the original scent - and I think the citrus would be better. Devon thinks it makes the bathroom smell like someone is burning incense. They don't turn the water blue...but the toilet bowls seem cleaner - so we will see. Has anyone else tried these??

Our FUN weekend in Cape Girardeau...

We had the most fun weekend with Casie and Miah in Cape! The twins did not have school on Friday...so after Devon saw a few patients in the morning - we headed out! The drive was so beautiful with all of the changing colors of fall.

We went to Miah's game (he coaches volleyball at Southeast Missouri State) on Friday night. Since we had celebrated Halloween for a full week...we decided that it would be way more fun to see Miah coach than go trick or treating again. When we were getting ready to leave Casie's house - Devon decided that he did want to dress up for the game. Can you guess who he is???

He wore all of Miah's clothes - I guess Miah lost a bet with his players - so they dressed him in the sweet 80's running suit!

His team totally dominated the game and they won in three! They must be extremely well coached!!

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out, staying up way too late playing cards, and laughing our guts out! We all had so much fun - we were sad to leave on Sunday - it went by really fast! Hopefully we can get together again soon! Thanks for all the fun!

Disco Party!

We have been celebrating Halloween all week! The twins have already been TrIcK - oR - tReAtInG twice - and we are still 2 days away from Halloween! They have more candy than we need... and tomorrow they have fall parties at school - so there will be even more!

On Saturday night - Willard had "safe halloween" at the rec. center. We did a booth for the eye center- and Devon decided he wanted to have a disco theme! He had disco music blaring from his tent and we had a really fun time.

We had a Vampire, a Witch, and Mickey Mouse! Devon found afro wigs for us - but the best part of the night was watching Devon dance to the music! I even have a video for you all to enjoy...

PuMpKiN pAtCh FuN!

The twins had their first field trip in Kindergarten! They were so excited - they finally got to ride the school bus! We went to a really fun pumpkin patch to spend the morning! I was a chaperone for Hadley's class- which was really fun! Cayden's teacher said he could come with my group - but he is my independent kid - and was happy to stay with his "own" class! It was so funny! So- I have lots of pics of Hadley - and only a couple with Cayden! Having them split up is something that I am still getting used to! The kids went on a fun hayride out to the pumpkin farm to pick a pumpkin.

Hadley had a hard time picking the perfect pumpkin! She searched and searched... but she finally found the one that she wanted.

All the kids in her class thought it was so fun to find the smallest pumpkins! It was so cute!

After they picked the pumpkins - they came back and painted them!

They had a fun swing set - Hadley loves to swing!

There was this cute little train made out of barrels! The kids thought it was the best ride ever!

Here is one of my only pictures of Cayden from the day - he is the third from the back! When it was time for lunch - all the classes were laying out blankets to sit and eat - that was when Cayden came and asked me if he could eat lunch with me! So - maybe he still needs me a little! As soon as lunch was over - he was right back with his class again! (I am definitely not complaining about this - I am glad that Cayden is confident and independent!)

I think one of the best parts for me was not riding the bus! They only have room for a few parents to ride the bus - so I was happy to volunteer to drive my own car (I am not a huge fan of the yellow buses)! As much as my kids loved riding the bus - I was more than happy to get in my car and jam out on the drive home!