"Thanksgiving"

It may be Thanksgiving for most people today, but here in the Barlett house we don't like to be part of the norm. We are actually going to celebrate on Saturday once Grammy and Poppy come to town. So today, we had a jammie party, baked cookies, finished the decorations (we didn't put up much since Lakely and I are headed home in a couple of weeks), and played with more toys than imaginable. The day was pretty much perfect.









Coloring with Daddy after breakfast


Yes, it's the doll stoller- she hasn't grown THAT much :)


Luckie snuggled up under our little tree

Illumination Parade!

We had a fantastic Saturday with the Zarates. We all headed to downtown Norfolk for the Illumination Parade where they light all the buildings at once for the holidays. Tony, Lakely and I took the ferry across since it's only a couple of blocks from our house. It was the first time Lakely had gone on a boat and I think she was pretty impressed. Her head was whipping in every direction so see all the scenery. When we got there, we met at Zulas for dinner and the babies got to reconnect since it had been awhile from their last play date. Erin and Phil had already placed our chairs on the curb before dinner, so when we were done, we headed straight to our spot. It was perfect by the way; the babies could see everything. We had heard that Santa was the last float, so about an hour and a half into the parade, we were ALL looking for Santa! Although every one was having a great time, it was pretty chilly and Lakely and Parker were exhausted. I'm so glad we were able to make it- Thank you Erin and Phil :)



Ready for her first ferry ride

Dinner date with Parker before the festivites began

The Zarates!

Huge Float!

"Look Mama"

Family shot

Wow!

Garfield was BIG

Loving on my sleepy baby

SANTA...finally!

Boo Bash & Trick-or-Treat

What a weekend! We had Grammy and Poppy in town for some Halloween fun! Friday we went to Little Gym's Boo Bash, which Lakely loved! She is definitely a people watcher, so this was right up her alley. So many kids in crazy costumes; she just couldn't get enough. She also had to show off her skills on the balance beam, her favorite :)

Saturday was the big trick-or-treating event downtown, a couple of blocks from our house. (Thank goodness it wasn't far away, we only lasted about 20 minutes). There were SO many scary goblins running around, along with parents and stollers, etc. To top it off it was pretty cold that night too. I don't think Lakely was too big a fan of the whole situation- but we can say we went!!

Sunday evening, the kids around here went door to door from 6-8. Lakely and I handed out most of the candy, which she enjoyed. She even got a picture with Minnie Mouse :) About 6:30 I took Lakely up to get ready for bed and Tony was going to man the door...I came back down after I got Lakely settled and he had already closed up shop!!! Can you believe it?! He's such a nut! Now I get to battle the candy bowl for a few weeks since we have SO much left over...I haven't done that great so far.


Headed to Boo Bash


Walking the balance beam


Headed downtown for some candy!


Snuggling with Daddy


Last pose before bed!

Road Trip

I decided to take a trip to SC for the weekend since Tony was gone for work. I was a bit nervous since I hadn't traveled that far with Lakely alone, and at this age. When she was younger it was no sweat because she slept most of the time but now its a whole new ball game! If you have ever traveled with me before, you know that I DO NOT do well if I have to back track, or stop several times along the way- I despise it. I want to leave on time, get there at precisely my ETA, and endure no unnecessary stops. Well, as you can imagine, things didn't go my way-but I didn't expect them to either. I did however get there before my ETA, which was fab, but it took 7 hours and 3 stops. Lakely was by far better than I had hoped. I don't think I have ever allowed her to snack for hours on end before, but it worked!

Once we got there, Lakely and Charlie reunited and it seemed they picked up right where they left off. He so gentlemanly-like rolled her suitcase into the house for her. It was so funny seeing him with a bright pink princess bag! During our stay we enjoyed great company, many of laughs, and yummy food :) We couldn't have been more comfortable- THANKS JENNY & JASON!

I learned a whole lot about myself during our trip as well. Never should I question my ability to "single-parent" her, manage her tantrums, soothe her sniffles, rock her to sleep or change a diaper standing up. (It never failed- several times during our trip we would stop somewhere without a changing table). No matter how big or small the situation may seem, you adapt and overcome! (Thanks T)!





Charlie's being a gentleman


WEEEEEEEE!


I love dogs!


Corn hole champs!


Yummy blueberry pancakes from chef Jenny!

Sweet Angel

It was a typical morning around the Barlett house except Daddy was still at home when Lakely got up! He had a plane to catch so he didn't leave for the office like usual. Lakely and I enjoyed our oatmeal and banana and by the time she finished, she was ready for hugs from her Daddy. I got her down from her booster and she diaper waddled right over to him for some loving. She squirmed down after a minute and I scooped her up so we could walk him to the door to say farewell. Before either of us had even mentioned that he was leaving or saying goodbye, Lakely starts waving and sweetly saying, "bye bye," "bye Daaddy." (She drags out the word Daddy). Tony and I looked at each other like, "DID YOU JUST HEAR THAT?!" I know it's tough on him to leave her in the mornings or when he goes out of town, but she sure gets excited when he comes back!

These pictures are actually from the beginning of the week, but I thought they were cute :)

Peanut Festival

We heard word that the Peanut Festival in Suffolk was the place to be, so that's where we headed bright and early Saturday! It was a lot of fun even if Lakely was too little to ride the majority of things. We still enjoyed the great weather, a yummy gyro wrap, a couple of beers and the people watching for sure.

Tony tried his hardest to win Lakely a prize on the basketball game but no such luck ;) That's when Mommy had to step in a win the big girl a prize on the water gun game. I walked away with an Elmo for Lakely and she seemed pretty impressed!

All in all, it was a lovely Saturday with the family :) I LOVE OCTOBER



Wowza...this is a little fast for me! (sidenote: fastest merry-go-round EVER!)


All done?!


My first corn dog- YUMMO!


Sharing Daddy's shade...it turned out to be a HOT day!


I'm beat.

Pumpkin Patch Stress Reliever

Soooo, what a crazy 72 hours the Barlett clan has faced. First, the entire week was consumed with a monsoon complete with floods and ruined yard items. Let me also add that Lakely and I were stuck indoors for four days straight. (That was fun). Secondly, I was headed out to get my Virginia affairs in order on Friday (a.k.a. parking decal for the city, VA car tags, etc.), and noticed that I had received a parking ticket IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE! It stated that I had exceeded the 2 hour maximum for my parking space, (um, the roads are flooded and I hadn't left the house in days)! Last but not least, I go out back this morning to enjoy the sunshine that we were finally getting and assess the damage that we had endured during the floods and realized that we had been robbed last night. Some idiot had entered our fence, gone up under our deck and stolen the lawn mower, edger, and blower. I can not explain the rage that was running through my body. That is MY stuff, in MY yard, WAY too close to MY family. Needless to say we filed a police report, notified the neighbors, etc., but it sure doesn't changed the fact that we are out our belongings and some fool probably had his eye on some other stuff of ours. I've come to the realization that although we have a wonderful home downtown, I'm not a city girl. Please return me to the quiet suburbs- thank you.

On a HAPPY note; we went to a lovely pumpkin patch today and got some great pictures of Lakely. She was unsure of the pumpkins at first and didn't really want to touch them but she sure warmed up quickly once she realized what great drums they were. We picked the perfect family pumpkin and she tried her hardest to lug it around! Below are some pictures of the "better" part of our day!



My first pumpkin patch!


Oh, I like this one!


This pumpkin is coming with me!


I want this one too!


Such a big girl!

15 Month Check-Up

Lakely received a perfect bill of health yesterday for her 15 month well check. I am proud to say that she has been ear infection free since June and currently there is NO talk of tubes!! Yeah! Her lungs sound great too, so we're discontinuing her asthma inhaler, which is a HUGE deal. We had taken her to a specialist back in May and was prescribed an inhaler twice a day since then. We're SO happy for her!

She weighed in at 24lbs. and 31 1/2 inches tall; both in the 75 percentile. She wears 12-18 month clothing and a size 4 toddler shoe. She has 12 teeth (4 are molars), and she loves all food! Her favorite being what ever is on Mommy's plate.

Her hobbies include pushing her doll stroller or lawn mower and it's always a bonus if she rams one of the dogs in the process. She loves going up and down the stairs and showing you where her room is. She enjoys coloring, but digging her nails into the crayons and picking at the crayola wrapper is "the jam." Another fun thing she enjoys is riding the pony in her room. She drags it out from beside her crib and swings that leg around and just rocks and rocks. I think she could do that all day if I let her. (Apparently her Daddy was a big fan of that too when he was little).

She is certainly a social butterfly these days waving at anyone or anything that is facing her direction. She is obsessed with big kids and would truly love an older sibling. (Bless her heart). She gives "hugs" to any kids that will let her. I say "hugs" because she just comes up and lays her head on you for a quick second and then she's done. But it counts!

She babbles ALL day long and loves making herself laugh. The words that are clearly heard include:

Muum = Mom
Daad = Dad
Uh Oh = Uh Oh
Dag = Dog
Mirm = More

Everything else is up for debate!

I'm sure I'm missing loads of Lakely tricks in this report, but she's totally over me being on the computer. More info/pics to come!




Escorting Daddy to the restaurant


Family Dinner


Go Dawgs!


Pulling my new toy my Godfather sent me


Chase me!

Climbing on my Daddy


Favorite past time


steady hands...


"Oh my gosh!!" I got her to stay!


Just hanging out with my buddies