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New Addition

Posted by Meredith Rae Wednesday, February 29, 2012 comments (2)

After all the anticipation and excitement, I am pleased to say that William Chance Barber joined our family on Friday, February 24th at 12:04 PM! He made things pretty easy on Mom and got here quickly. He is beautiful and perfect and we all adore him. Reese is a great big sister--doting on him, holding him, petting him! We are all over the moon with our big man--he weighed in at 9.1 lbs and was 23 inches long. Welcome to the world baby boy--we all love you!

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Waiting Game

Posted by Meredith Rae Sunday, February 19, 2012 comments (1)

Well we are in the single digits until my due date and we are officially playing the waiting game on Chance's arrival. We are not, however, just sitting around all day staring at the walls and are instead trying to keep busy.

My Dad arrived on Friday and Reese is very happy to have someone new in the house so she can entertain him and play with him. Dog Dog Papa, as he is known, has been playing ball and play doh with Reese and helping me out by cooking, cleaning, and entertaining Reese. They are having a great time together and we are happy to have him here.

We have spent the weekend going on hikes with the dogs, making one last run to our favorite grocery store in France, cooking, playing, volunteering, shopping for a birthday gift, etc. It has been a fun few days and we are enjoying our time together. Of course we are all wondering when Chance will make his debut. Yesterday Reese told me she was ready for him to get here and I agree but I know he will show up when he is ready and until then we will keep busy and entertained.

Also every night before bed Reese wants to watch the videos of when she was born, had her first bath, etc. She is fascinated by babies and ready to meet her brother!

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Mommy Daughter Day

Posted by Meredith Rae Thursday, February 2, 2012 comments (0)

Reese and I had a fun day. I have been trying to spend as much quality time with her as possible knowing that my attention will soon be divided and I won't get as much one on one time with her.

This morning we lounged around the house for a while and then she took an hour long bath while I talked to her about lots of different topics. After bathtime we headed to the pool where she splashed and played like crazy and had a great time. At this point in the pregnancy I am a pretty big fan of the pool as well because floating around feels pretty good!

After the pool we went to Johnny Rockets and had lunch and milkshakes. We took our time and hung out and enjoyed ourselves. On the way home she put on her sunglasses and promptly fell asleep!

This afternoon we made Troy his favorite strawberry cake in celebration of the job he started today--it has much more normal hours than the one he has been in for 2 1/2 years, so we are all very excited!

Overall it was a great day. I am worn out now and so is Reese but we had such a wonderful day and when she reached over at lunch and patted my big belly and told me she loved me, it made the day even that much more special!

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Getting Ready

Posted by Meredith Rae Friday, January 27, 2012 comments (1)

Since the holidays are now over and we are well into 2012, the Barber household has been focusing on getting everything ready for our new arrival. Reese is settled into her big girl bed which means the crib has been installed in the baby's room and I think we are pretty much ready for his big debut. Of course I have a long list of tiny things I want to get done between now and then but all the big items are in place--we have the crib, the bassinet/co-sleeper, the rocking chair, lots of diapers, cute clothes, etc.

I am obviously not having a shower this time around because 1) we still have a lot of gear from when Reese was little and 2) I live in Germany away from my shower throwing friends and family! However, we have received several very sweet and large boxes in the mail filled with goodies for baby Chance. Reese and I have little mini baby showers whenever we get a box and she loves to see what's inside.

She is very much looking forward to her brother's arrival and asks almost every day if he is coming today. She also knows her Dog Dog Papa (my Dad) is coming in a few weeks so she thinks Chance will get here the same day--like Papa is the stork who is bringing him! She says she can't wait to pet him and be sweet to him. She also loves looking at all the swings and bathtubs and things she used when she was little. She always says " but I'm a big girl now...but I'm still Daddy's baby!". Which is true and I've realized that even more lately. It doesn't matter how old you get, you are still your parents' baby!

4 weeks to go....

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Changes

Posted by Meredith Rae Monday, January 9, 2012 comments (1)

Reese is at the age where she is going through many changes. Over the last 6 months she has potty trained, given up pacifiers and a number of other things as she transitions from baby to big girl. She has taken most of it in stride and yesterday saw another big change for our little girl. With her little brother's arrival just around the corner, it was time for Reese to move to a toddler bed and out of the crib. We've been talking about it for a while but yesterday was the big day and she could not have been more excited! She thanked Troy repeatedly for getting her a bed and was so excited that she would be able to get out of it to go pee pee! She said it was beautiful and she was so happy!

Going to bed was a slightly different story. She was excited to get in the bed but then it took about an hour for her to get settled. There was a lot of weepiness and a little confusion over what to do in the big bed. I think she was excited and didn't realize that going to sleep in the bed was the same as going to sleep in the crib. However, she eventually went to sleep and had a good night in her bed. This morning she told me she loved it so I am hoping after a week or so, the weepiness will fade and she will just snuggle up in her bed and go to sleep. I've only got 7 weeks left before I am up again all night--I need all the sleep I can get before then!

Loving her bed!

My big baby belly!

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Christmas Fun

Posted by Meredith Rae Thursday, December 29, 2011 comments (0)

We had a very fun Christmas this year. Reese was super excited and the big day did not disappoint. Reese's friend Avery came over on Christmas Eve and the girls played, watched Christmas movies and decorated cookies for Santa. They played for hours and had a big time. Reese was worn out when it came time for bed!

Santa came and was very generous to Reese. She got a great easel that has a dry erase board, chalkboard and paper so she can paint. She loves it and paints several times a day. We started Christmas morning off around 8:30 and I think we sat down to breakfast at noon! Reese wanted to keep stopping to play with her gifts and she was the official present opener for the first hour or so. Eventually Troy and I did get to open a few gifts ourselves but we didn't have anything to do so we let her take her time and enjoy herself. It was fun for both of us to watch her and to enjoy the morning.

After our brunch of pancakes we took a rest and watched one of Reese's new movies then spent the afternoon playing with toys, cleaning the house and organizing all the new goods! It was a great day and we were lucky to have Troy home and not at work. We all got to enjoy a long weekend together and although we missed our friends and family, it was a wonderful Christmas filled with fun!

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Christmas Vacation

Posted by Meredith Rae Saturday, December 24, 2011 comments (1)

Posing with a Santa statue at the toy store

This is the first time Reese has been on Christmas vacation--that wonderful time when kiddos have no school for 2 1/2 weeks and get to enjoy the holiday season and go wild! She seems to be having a great time. It has been rainy here but not too much snow so we have been able to get out and do a good bit. She is super excited about Christmas this year and talks a lot about Santa and his naughty list and how she doesn't want to be on it! We are very excited for Christmas tomorrow and will post pics of it over the weekend. Here are some pictures of her enjoying her break!

Dancing around the kitchen to the Chipmunks Christmas songs and eating her candy from the Advent Calendar

Doing our Christmas crafts--then telling me to stop taking photos! You can also see her Christmas money from sweet Granny and sweet Aunt Evelyn in the picture--she LOVED opening the cards!

Taking advantage of free bowling on base!

Driving the new BW as she calls it--she also picked out this spectacular outfit. It consisted of her PJ pants, black boots, Santa dress and a striped shirt! She wore it all day and was super happy about picking out her own outfit!

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