Being Barrett

It is tough finding a place to start in talking about my son.  He is growing up so fast as he becomes his own, independent person.   

·         Barrett is starting to show his sense of humor.  As a three-year-old, it primarily revolves around calling things by the incorrect names and laughing hysterically about it.  In particular, Barrett likes to call things “hot dog.”  People, inanimate objects, other foods…it’s all hot dog to him.  He also gets a kick out of calling his Papa Bill “Willie, “ Nana “Nanny” and Stella “Stelly.”  

 

·         Barrett is working hard on his shapes and alphabet.  He knows his name starts with a B, and every time we see a capital B on something, he has to point it out.  He also likes to tell us what shape his food is during dinner.  Audrey is quick to correct him when he’s wrong, so we’re encouraging her to give him hints to help instead of just giving him the answer.

·         Barrett is finally completely potty trained.  I guess it’s actually been a couple of months, but he just started going poop at school last week.  He would hold it until he was at home, so almost every night during dinner, he would have to get up and go.  We’re still doing pull-ups at night, but one big box of pull-ups lasts us two months! 

·         Barrett is loud.  It doesn’t matter what he is doing, he always does it several decibels louder than his sister.  When pretends just about every toy he owns has a motor, and he makes accompanying noises for each.  When he sings a song, it is so loud I can barely understand what the words are.  When he plays dolls with his sister, his baby cries louder than I bet any real baby would.  We have been talking a lot about inside and outside voices; I don’t think he’s figured out yet that the car is considered inside.

 

 

·         Barrett loves to play pretend.  He is extremely imaginative, and his sister gets frustrated when his imagination varies from her own.  His pretend scenarios typically involve traveling somewhere in some motorized device; boats, monster trucks, stand up wave runners, helicopters, motorcycles, and fire trucks are his favorites.   

 

·         Barrett has started becoming attached to random things and trying to hoard them.  Some recent examples are acorns, rocks, and leaves.  When I try to tell him those things belong outside, his response is inevitably, “but I love them.”  He says it in the most gentle, innocent way that it almost makes me want to give in.  Every time he says it, I can also see his older sister saying the same thing, and then I realize where he learned that from. 

·         Barrett loves to wear sunglasses.  He has several pair that he likes to rotate out.  

 

 

·         Barrett is gearing up to play hockey.  We’ve taken him ice skating a few times, and he has his own skates.  He has a few more months before he can start, but I think he will definitely need some ice skating lessons before he joins a team.  We can’t get him to try to skate on his own without using something for balance.  

All About Audrey

My mom always used to joke that I was 6 going on 16 or 8 going on 16.  As a kid, I used to get annoyed by that.  Now, however, I completely understand where that was coming from.  As the mother of an extremely independent, strong-willed and sometimes moody 6 year old, I have started saying the same thing about my daughter.  It is just so amazing how quickly they grow up.  That said, I wanted to take a moment to capture this current Audrey and describe how I see her at 6 and a half years old.

·         Audrey loves her brother very much, but sometimes his annoying tendencies cause her to forget that.  He most frequently gets on her nerves when he refused to do whatever it is she wants him to (play her way, give her something she wants, or just leave her alone).  It often makes me chuckle, because it reminds me so much of me and my brother.  When Audrey doesn’t let herself get frustrated, she usually does a pretty good job of getting her brother to come around to where she wants him to be.  She’s still working on harnessing her frustration when he doesn’t though.

·         Audrey loves the monkey bars and climbing on the jungle gym.  They built a new one at the park across from our house, and I am pretty sure she has scaled every wall in one way or another (and usually not the way the designers intended). 

 

·         Audrey is still doing dance, and is getting much better.  She is in a more advanced ballet class this year, which I think has been really good for her.  She is one of the youngest in her class, but she is being challenged to keep up with the older girls, and she is managing pretty well.  For their next performance, they are doing Fantasia, and she is a bird.  I’ve gotten to see them rehearse a couple of times, and I must say that Audrey has the stage presence down.  She is still working on the dance steps, but she is a performer.  Even when she’s messing up, she is so confident that it almost makes you wonder if everyone else is doing it wrong. 

·         Audrey is reading!  Every weeknight, she has to do 20 minutes of reading.  We rotate between having her read to us, having her read to herself, and us reading to her.  Admittedly, this has been tough to keep up with.  Since she has dance twice a week, she frequently ends up reading out loud to us in the car while we drive to and from dance.  It is amazing how much progress she has made even in the past month.  Having that constant practice is really helping her.  I am sure that by the end of the year, she’ll be reading chapter books on her own. 

·         Audrey has always enjoyed coloring and drawing, but she has really started to take a keen interest in all sorts of crafting.  She has several jewelry making kits that she plays with frequently; she especially loves the Rainbow Loom.  If Audrey disappears for a few minutes, she is usually in the office with paper, tape, markers, and scissors making some sort of craft creation.    Yesterday, she was making a purse for herself using the aforementioned tools.  She also loves going to Michaels almost more than a toy store.  I try to encourage her creativity, but I am not particularly crafty myself, so it is hard.  I try going outside of my comfort zone though, especially when it comes to making gifts for friends and family.  So, beware of what might be coming your way this Christmas ;)

 

·         Audrey loves the dogs.  She finally has the self-control to sit with them for long periods of time just petting them.  I think all three of them really enjoy it, although Stella always wants more attention for herself J

What's Going On?

Since I have not done a very good job lately of keeping this blog current, I figured that I would jump back into it with one of those all encompassing, high-level summary type posts that captures the happenings of our lives over the past couple of months.  So, here goes!

Since school started, we still managed to make it to the lake for Labor Day.  Unfortunately, I left the memory card for the camera in the computer, so I only have a couple of photos I took on my phone.  The kids had so much fun together, and Barrett and Logan decided to take everything they could pick up on the patio of the lake house to build a tower.  So, here is a photo of their masterpiece. 

Since Labor Day, we haven't made it down to Lake of the Ozarks.  We have spent a few weekends just trying to get caught up on things around the house, going to birthday parties with the kids, and trying to find some time to relax.  We went to Greenville one weekend for my cousin Cody's wedding reception. 

One of the highlights of the past month for the kids was attending the Greentree Parade in Kirkwood.  It is sort of the like the local homecoming parade.  All of the Kirkwood schools have a float, and our kids could have walked in the parade, but chose instead to watch.  It was a beautiful morning, and the kids really enjoyed themselves.  Barrett loved seeing the fire trucks, but he did not like hearing them.  Audrey had fun waving at all of her friends that were in the parade.  And, they both LOVED collecting candy.  I was surprised by how much they got too!

 

The past couple of weeks, Billy started work to finish out the drywall in the garage so we can paint it and build a storage loft.  That means lots, and lots, and lots of mudding and sanding.  Fortunately, the kids thought it was fun (at least for the first day).  Audrey actually helped sand for about 2 hours.  She said she wanted to learn how to mud, but when the time came, she opted to play with her dolls instead. 

 

 

 

While working on this post, I realized that I did not use my real camera (not the one on my phone) during the entire month of September!  So, as we get into the fall groove, gear up for Halloween, and get as much time outdoors as possible before the winter cold sets in, I plan to be much more diligent about updating the blog and taking lots of photos (especially of the kids).  I am posting it here, because if I post it on the internet, that means it will happen, right? 





10 Years Later

I have been falling down on the job, and managed to let more than a month go by without a blog post.  Today, however, is definitely worth breaking that record.  Why?  Because today marks 10 years since the date my husband and I said "I do."  The crazy thing is that it seems like just a moment and forever at the same time.

As with any marriage, the past 10 years has seen both ups and downs for Mr. and Mrs. William J. Nance.  Despite the sometimes rocky road, I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Each day we have spent together has brought Billy and I closer to each other, and I thank God every day that I get to spend the rest of my life with him.  I feel so blessed to have such an amazing husband that is willing to stick by me and work with me to keep our marriage strong.  It is hard work, but it is totally worth it.

So, in honor of these 10 years of marriage, I would like to introduce:

The Nance's 10 Year Anniversary Top 10 List

10. Ten Years Since We Started This Journey
9.  Nine Amazing Years in St. Louis
8. Eight Seasons of House
7. Seven Christmas Trees (5 real and 2 artificial)
6.  Six Cars that Carried Both of Our Names on the Title
5.  Five "Permanent" Addresses
4.  Four Babies (2 human and 2 canine)
3.  Three Churches that have helped make our marriage stronger
2.  Two Mortgages
1.  One Bond Joined by God

I love you Billy Nance!