ho ho hope you had a happy one!

what a very merry christmas we had! there really is just something about kiddos that make you even more in the "spirit." the christmas eve candlelight service was so special & santa made his way to omie & poppys. liv's favorite gift was her shiny new radio flyer wagon. the family also got a "wii fit." too much fun..dutch and i are seriously sore from bowling, skiing and hula hooping all day long..at least we burned a few extra holiday calories. christmas 2008 was without a doubt..the best christmas the barretts have ever had.

hope you all had a happy one!

safety first!

in a home full of hardwoods..kneepads are a necessity!

no.. i promise we don't plan to wrap her in bubble wrap

on the first day of school.

merry christmas from dutch!

OK let me start by saying this is Dutch not Erin and by asking you to forgive all the spelling and grammatical mistakes you will see in this post and any future postings I do. Now, with that out of the way, I have decided to post a holiday thanks to everyone in my life, my own little Christmas card.
It starts with God. I want to thank him for all the fortunate things in my life ... my beautiful wife Erin, my PERFECT daughter Liv, a great job, and an overall blessed life. I find myself wondering how I got it so good... It is easy to get caught up in all the little things in life that can take focus off what is truly important, which are things like health. I am so thankful my family is in good health! I have a job that allows me to get surgery on my nose, of all things, to let me breath better. In my occupation, I see families every day that have to worry about how they are going to pay to take themselves or their loved one to the hospital. I do not have to worry about that. I can look as close as my own father to realize just how good I have it. He has lost an arm and is in constant pain everyday and to go along with all that he lives on about $800.00 a month, just think about that for a minute. I also have a dear friend that has a sick daughter, him and his wife know she is not going to live for very long, think about that for a moment. I can only pray for God to give him and his wife strength in this time and hope we can ALL take time to sit and reflect on just how good we all have it. I am not writing about this to make people who read it sad, I am writing this for you to take a look at your own life and give thanks to God for all the blessings he has given you.
I would also like to give thanks for our family and friends. I cannot imagine raising my daughter without family in the immediate area. I find myself lying in bed at night, so thankful that Liv has such a wonderful family in her life. Between Erin's mother, father, and brother along with my own mother, brothers and sisters, Liv has got a great circle of love around her. Erin's parents are only minutes away from us and they have been such a big help with Liv. Erin and I can rest easy when we are at work because we know Cindy is putting a SMACKDOWN of love on Liv and Ernie has been a great POPPY as well. I think having Cindy and Ernie in Liv's immediate area puts a calming feeling in my mothers heart. She knows how important grandparents are in a child's life. I know it breaks my mom's heart not to be here everyday with Liv, but at least she does know that Liv is always in good hands. I am also thankful that Erin and I have my brothers, sisters and Erin's cousins to model a family after, they have all raised wonderful children and we can learn a lot from them.
Last but certainly not least, our circle of friends. What did we do to deserve such great friends in our lives? From the friends I have made, marrying such a wonderful woman in TEXAS to the friends we have made here in Indy, and of course the best of friends Erin and I have in Minnesota our lives are truly blessed. I am blessed to be a part of all you and your own families lives in the future.
I also want you all to know that this is not a normal posting for me. In fact you will probably never see something like this from me again. It could be the pain medication I am on :), it could be the time I have on my hands for the next few weeks, it is probably the season, but I just wanted everyone to know that I am thankful for my life. Yes, this is gay, mushy, and all the other words my guy friends are saying right now, but ya know what, sometimes stuff like this just has to be said because who knows if you will be able to communicate this with people you care about. I am still a man.. I am currently watching Sports Center and thinking about how M. Jones-Drew got me 17 points in fantasy last night so ha. and I am going to be doing manly things like painting tables and hanging pictures later today, but for this one moment I am just thankful and I want everyone to know it. I mean just take a look at the blog entry below this and watch the video, Hilarious!
I LOVE YOU ALL and hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas! God Bless.

who needs sleep?

ok. so it's really cold here. i mean i could put on 90 pairs of socks and my feet refuse to get warm. well, this texas gal has quite the hard time with these loooooong indiana winters. i mean, yea the snow is pretty for a couple of days..but after that i need some sunshine! on the days i'm able to "stay home" with liv, i can never really "stay home." we have to get out of the house...even if its just to the grocery store. well today was a big day for me & liv. it was my day to "stay home" & i decided to check out what all this "gymboree play & music" stuff was about...and i thought it could brighten a dreary day. omg. i think i've found my new calling. i seriously want to teach these classes! liv had a blast and have to admit she was quite the social butterfly. as soon as we got there, she had nothing to do with her ole mom. she worked the room, crawling around to every other mom and kiddo introducing herself.

being new to this whole "mommy world", i was chatting it up with other sleep deprived ladies..and they proceed to tell me the best thing about these classes is that afterwards, the babes take the longest naps! YAY! perfect i thought! we leave gymboree and liv is still singing all the way home as i'm happily making the to-do list i'm about to conquer when i get home.. since i know she's about to take such a looong nap, right?

this is what went down instead...

things i've learned...

from my 8 month old..

• smile at every person you make eye contact with
• laugh at the simple things
• take time to taste your food and enjoy it
• a good nap can turn your day around
• sometimes all you need is cuddletime
• chubby hands are actually quite adorable

HAPPY 8 MONTH B-DAY LIV!

snowday

brrrrr.... we had our first real snow

& omie let me borrow her hat to keep my ears warm.

omie & mana & santa! oh my!

liv cuddled up in 3 of her favorite people's laps and whispered her wish list... her omie, her great mana and of course jolly ole st. nick! she refused to look at the camera while visiting santa..she STARED at him the entire time. her dad and i went and jumped in santa's lap too and told him all we want for christmas is a full night of sleep... we sure do just love our crack baby... speaking of which, i hear her singing in her crib right now...perfect.

just my size...

omg. check me out.

i'm sooo big...sittin all pretty in my new lil chair.