On December 27, our Barnes turned three! It's slightly challenging to find a good time to celebrate his special day, but I am determined to make it happen, even amongst the busyness and exhaustion of the holidays. I mean… how can you not want to celebrate this bundle of a little Bragg boy?
He chose Thomas the Train again this year… he was so happy, train conductor overalls and all. I found the "Thomas Birthday Tank" on Amazon for $8.99, and it sings "Happy Birthday" when you press the cake, and the little candles light up, perfect for the cake topper and the train table. Cool!! I made a quick bunting with scrap booking paper, rubber cement, bakers twine, and skewers about 30 minutes before the party started… the candle from the past two 3rd birthday celebrations, and we were good to go! (Flying by the seat of my pants seems to be the norm these days.) Two years of Thomas in a row? By all means, big guy!
Russ's parents so generously offered to open their home for us to celebrate, and it was more than perfect! Most of my family came, along with a few friends. We had bar-b-que, with all the trimmings for dinner, and then Mrs. Sandy Clayton's birthday cake was delicious, as always!
These are my cousin's children, Colton, Kaitlyn, and Camryn. I hadn't seen them in ten+ years, so it was great to see them.
Singing "Happy Birthday"!
The kid's table. ;)
Tate, Barnes, Tyler, Lawson, and MIller… I'm not sure where Emmitt was.
Visiting with friends… Ben and Jennifer, and Aaron Reynolds.
My Dad and my Uncle Billy.
Waiting to open his birthday gifts.
Pictures like this make me stop and say, "wow, we really do have four kids".
Watching Barnes open his gifts.
Look! A John Deere trailer!
Thomas the Train flash cards!!
=My sister and me=
=My good friend, Jennifer, and me=
Slightly out of order, but must be included… "Happy Birthday to You!!"… so, he's still mad that HE didn't blow out his birthday candles. It's all Emmitt's fault, even though you can't really tell in the video. As a matter of fact, he mentions it so often, that I've offered to redo the candle and let him blow it out. But, no… he just chooses to complain about it. Poor guy. We have learned our lesson… no one but Barnes can blow it out… even if the cake catches on fire!! Ha!!
Ok, Mr. Barnes… you are three. Every single bit of three. You are loud. You are funny. You speak in complete, full sentences, and articulate words very well. We understand 99% of everything you say. You scream if you don't get your way, which is not fun. At all. Especially in public places. You think you're as big as your brothers, and the neighbor kids. You want to do everything they do, and most of the time, they are accommodating. Thank goodness, or cue the screaming as previously mentioned. You have a great imagination, which includes… cooking on your kitchen or grill, hunting, fishing, building with Lego's, rodeo and farming… talking on one of your large collection of flip phones and blackberries… you can almost completely handle a Nerf gun all by yourself... great imagination!! You have learned to pedal your tricycle and are so proud!! You love your cowboy John Deere boots, and prefer no socks. Ugh. If we are at home, you never have your clothes on; underwear only. You love your baby sister, and are very good with her. You sing many of the songs we listen to in the van very well. You are finally growing! You are no longer in the "failure to thrive" category, but we still have to watch it. You drink lots and lots of Vitamin D chocolate milk, but we are to work towards white milk with added chocolate, due to the sugar… we'll see. You weighed 26 pounds, having gained six pounds in eleven months. They were pleased. Thank goodness. You are missing school, and are ready to go back in the fall. You still LOVE Mrs. Cara at Advent, and can hardly wait to see her the next week. You tell her you love her, and it warms my heart more than you will ever know, as does it hers. You say the prayer most every meal. You are doing a great job. Sometimes we laugh, because you start having a conversation with God… you both ask and respond. It's kind of funny. But at the same time, our hearts are touched as you faithfully pray for the "St. Jude kids to feel better"… oh, Dear Lord, how we learned so much from you over our two years in Memphis… all the way down to the St. Jude children. Yes, God, please help the St. Jude kids to feel better… completely healed and better. You cry not to take a bath, and you cry to stay in the bathtub. That is an exhausting process. You sleep in most mornings, until 8:30ish. You are very challenging to get to sleep, as well. You think it's a great, funny time, but we don't. It's quite hard, as a matter of fact… even after your Daddy reads way too many books. You love egg sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, and fruit loops for breakfast, and donut holes if we leave the house in the mornings for some reason. You are currently afraid of police officers, although we are unsure what has caused that fear. You are fully potty trained… and I am so proud. Potty training is not my thing, but we finally got it! You wear underwear all the time, and haven't had any accidents in a very long time. You do, however, like to have fresh underwear throughout the day which drives me crazy. Sometimes, I oblige, and sometimes you pitch a fit and wear the same ones you already had on. Carline is like bedtime… not fun. If you don't fall asleep between home and the carline, you will scream until I get you out of your seat. And once you're out, it's like Ninja Warrior in the van. You are jumping around everywhere, or trying to change the radio station, or DVD. You love to have lunch with Dad on the square. You are happy to eat lunch anywhere with Dad… me, too, buddy. You are not a huge TV fan, but you like Daniel Tiger, Paw Patrol, Curious George, and you love to watch hunting shows with your Dad and brothers. When you do a good job, or do anything that deserves recognition, you turn your chin down, and don't want any attention… you'd rather us say "good job", and move on. No big celebration is needed. You are a MESS. You make the biggest mess of either of your older brothers. I can't keep up with your dragging out of the toys. They are everywhere. Literally. You like to park your trucks and trailers underneath the dining room table, underneath a little table in our bedroom, and you like to place toys in the refrigerator in the laundry room as you can open the doors, you take toys to the bathtub, you will stuff bags full of lego's and little toy treasures… so many messes. But most of all, you are loved, my Barnesy Boy. No one is allowed to call you that but me. And you think it's hilarious. As of today, March 20, we have nine months and seven days left in the "threes"… three is not my favorite, but we're going to get through it, and watch you grow and grow.
It was so much fun celebrating your third birthday, sweet boy!! We love you like crazy, our littlest big brother!
