Again and again

Since my last post was pretty recent, I just had to write again and give a little update. Jonas and I ran 3 errands today. The shoe repair shop, Steve and Barry's and Babies R Us.
The sweet lady in the shoe repair shop had never seen Jonas. The first thing she said was " you know I'm partial to little girls." I looked at her with the best facial expression I could, so she wouldn't feel bad, and said "he's a boy." And I laughed. She felt bad and said "he is just too pretty to be a boy and all that hair." She then asked him for a date. :-)
We then headed to Steve and Barry's and had a quiet little vist with a few women who only flirted with Jonas, but never spoke.
Then we go to Babies R Us. I was talking to the employee, who was probably around my age. She kept referring to Jonas as a "she" and she was looking right at him. This happened several times. When it was my turn to talk I said "well, actually, he's a boy..." And I smiled, again hoping she wouldn't feel bad. She also said he was just too pretty.
So, I guess that is it! He is just too pretty, has too much hair for a boy, and captivating big blue eyes. I can't complain with all those features.
By the way, he was dressed in a blue and white shirt with blue pants.
Anyone got some appropriate/cordial comebacks I can give when this happens? I have a feeling it will keep happening until I cut his curls off and I don't plan on doing that for quite sometime. :-)

Things that baffle me...

1. Now be honest...Has Jonas ever resembled a girl in your eyes? This is the outfit Jonas is wearing today. (I took this picture today) We went to Target after his morning nap and the check out lady asked me if he was a boy or a girl. I almost laughed out loud because he looks all-American boy to me, especially today. However, I have been asked this more times than I want to remember since he was born. Maybe it is people just being "careful" and not assuming. Or, are people cross-dressing their children so much these days that no one really knows? I don't think so. So, based on these picture, what do you think? (he also had on very boy brown sandals.)

That's not the real Daisy!

No, I don't usually let him play with the diaper champ, just had to get a shot of his cute curls.

2. Why did I get a Babies "R "Us sale book today with a child dressed as a pumpkin on the cover? As much as I love and I mean Love Fall, it is July folks. Some kids still feel like summer just started. I realize its ending soon for some, but Halloween already? Isn't life rushed enough with our busy schedules?

My kind of date

The weather has been slightly cooler here the last week or so. It has been in the 80's with less humidity. Saturday was a perfect day. This was Joe's weekend off and we decided to hit the mountains for a bike ride. It had been way too long since I have been able to ride with Joe. In fact I figured it at being 1 1/2 years, due to pregnancy, having a newborn last summer, recovering from delivery etc...
We enjoyed a beautiful ride through the watershed area, two small towns in the mountains and then back home. We took a break in our trip and ate at our favorite Italian restaurant, about 25 minutes from our house. The mushroom pesto pizza we had was delicious! The weather was around 84 and slightly cooler in the mountains with all the shade from the trees. We were on two lane, curvy roads with no where to pull off. So, I didn't get any scenic pictures. We had Joe's dad take these when we returned.
Here we are with all our gear on! :-) Thanks to grandma and grandpa Barker for taking care of Jonas while Joe and I could have a great time together. They were sweet and patient even though they would like us to sell the bike! :-)

Last pictures of Andrea's visit...

Most of these pictures were taken with Andrea's camera. They turned out better than mine. :-) We miss them so much!

First segment of Andrea's visit

Here is the first slide show of pictures we took while Andrea was here. I'm waiting for her to email me some taken with her camera. We had a great time together but there is just never enough time to do everything we want. One of our favorite outings was the water park. Jonas did really well even though there wasn't much for him to do. He and I floated around the lazy river a couple times and he enjoyed watching all of the kids play. I took the girls down the big water slide and had fun screaming our lungs out! We went downtown, did a little shopping, ate ice scream, watched movies and ate a lot of mom's good cooking! We can't wait for our next visit with each other.

Jonas' Birthday

Here are some pictures of Jonas' first birthday party. We just had a small family gathering at my mom's house. Jonas had more fun squishing his cake in his hands than eating it. I had to feed it to him to make him taste it. He said "yum yum" but didn't each much more after that. This is probably because this was his first sugar shock. We hadn't let him have any desserts or sugary food up to this point.
He got his first toy remote, to keep him away from ours! :-) And he got his first remote control car. Its a one push button toy that turns on its own when it runs into things. Very cute and he loves playing with it. He also got books, clothes, and more toys! It was awesome to have all of our dear family around us. My sister was in town with her two girls, Emma and Olivia. I'm so glad they could be here for this occasion. I will be posting more pictures of their visit soon!

Transition

Changes and new milestones have been pretty constant lately in the Barker household. I haven't been blogging much for a while. For some reason I just haven't been "into it." I think I'm over the hump though!

As you know Joe and I had our first Father's Day and Mother's Day this year. We don't always get to celebrate holidays in a normal fashion and sometimes not much at all based on Joe's schedule. We did have Mother's day together and went out to eat with his mom that Sunday. (My mom was in Florida celebrating with my grandmother.) We got home and got out of our church clothes and realized we didn't take any pictures. Duh! Then Joe worked on Father's Day and so no pictures that day either. A few Sunday's ago I was determined to get a picture of all the of us in our Sunday Best! The result is the picture I posted two posts ago. We did have a great first Mothers and Fathers Day. And Jonas has the best Daddy ever!

Happy 4th of July! Are you proud to be an American? I sure am!

Joe switched to day shift today and that is a much wanted and needed transition, on my behalf! We get to see daddy more and I don't have to be as paranoid about keeping the house quiet during the day while daddy is sleeping. Jonas and I spent some time at the pool today and we will have a cookout tonight at Aunt Kim's and Uncle Joel's house. We probably won't worry about fireworks this year. Joe will be tired after a long 12 hour shift and most the fireworks don't start till 9:30 or 10. That's waaay past Jonas' bed time and he probably could care less. :-)

Yesterday and this morning were big milestones for Jonas and me. My baby turned one yesterday and this morning he drank out of his last bottle. I have slowly been weaning him and today is the end! No more snuggle time in the mornings. I'm sad he's grown so much and getting completely out of the baby stage. However, we are sure glad we don't have to spend any more money on formula!!!

My last bottle

I think I've caught up enough...this post is getting long. We do anticipate my sister and her girls coming in tomorrow from MI. They will be driving all day tomorrow. We sure can't wait to get hugs and kisses from them. We haven't seen each other since Christmas. Its been toooo long!

Happy Birthday Baby Jonas!!

I don't even know where to start. Do you remember how you felt when it was your first child's first birthday? I'm still overwhelmed that God even chose us to be parents! What an amazing opportunity and responsibility to mold this little man into what we hope to be a man after God's own heart. It is no doubt that our lives have changed dramatically this past year. But we have loved every minute of it.

Yes, the real challenges are just beginning and we are feeling it! :-) But, overall Jonas is a sweet spirited, laid back 1 year old. I have noticed the last few weeks he is showing a lot more compassion. He has never been a cuddle bug, so the little hugs he is offering are so so sweet. He is starting to give kisses too! He is not walking yet but seems to get more brave as the days go by with his balance. His one year check up went great! He is a very healthy little boy.

So, my sweet Jonas, I will probably be calling you "baby" less and less. You are amazing and bring so much joy and laughter to daddy and me. We can't imagine our world without you.

-Mommy