Happy Birthday, Little Bug!



I can not believe it, but my little bug is turning ONE! Two years ago Brian and I were enjoying our first year of marriage and planning to move into this house. Now we have a one year old – a toddler! Impossible! We had a wonderful day celebrating with 30 of our closest friends and family (seriously – the house was packed)! I really wanted to make Ben’s cakes myself, and I’m happy with how they turned out. The decorating went pretty well and the cakes themselves were DELICIOUS. (Oh, how I love homemade buttercream icing). We played, had lunch, opened presents and laughed a lot. Happy Birthday, Benji! I know you won’t remember your day, but I wanted you to know that you had a grand ole time! You make us so proud. We love you big as the sky!

We were blessed to have tons of family and friends (from in
town and far away) to celebrate with us).



Ben & friends played and watched "A Bug's Life"

Then we enjoyed a nice lunch

Getting ready to sing

Love his expression... this was right after we foiled his plan
to take a swipe at the cake

Ok, then, let's get this show on the road!

Ben's smash cake

I got this!

Consider it smashed

Just need to wash it down with a little milk

Cue sugar coma

Present time

A fun new ball, among other things

An extremely blessed little boy!

Ready to take flight

Birthday hugs from Uncle Brad & Aunt Jess

Swimming Lessons

Some friends of mine from church mentioned that they had found someone to do swim lessons at one of their neighborhood pools, so I signed Ben and I up for a “Mommy and Me” Class. It was fun to get in the water with him and splash around (especially because we don’t have access to a pool in our neighborhood), but I will say that the “lessons” part was money wasted. The teacher didn’t do much besides have us sing songs and bounce around in the water with them. It was all stuff that I do on my own with him anyway. Oh, well, I’ll know better for next time. I did get some cute pictures of him in his swim suit out of it! :)

Holding our breath... getting ready for a little dunk

Practicing floating

Such a big boy - he loved being in the water

Mid-tour Leave

My baby brother is home from Afghanistan on his mid-tour leave, so Ben and I headed over to Louisiana to visit with him and the rest of the family. We went to Blue Bayou Water Park and ate lots of yummy Cajun food. It was great to see him (and my sweet nephew Gabriel). It is definitely a blessing to have him home safe and sound. I wish he didn’t have to go back so soon! :(

This is Cajun Ben

I love my Uncle Gav

He gives me nachos...

and lemonade...

Yeah, he fills my belly up!
Nom nom nom!

Now it's time to walk it off!

Cheesy smilin' with Mom

Giving a snuggle to Parin Gary

Crazy Boys!

Some love from my sweet Gabe

These two... cutting up as usual

Cousin time!

Practicing his mad walking skills
in the Houston airport

I, Brad, take you Jessica…

This weekend Brian’s brother married Miss Jessica Buschman from Lubbock, Texas. We crammed packed ourselves and Ben’s gear into the Corolla and headed out west to help them celebrate. Diane and Wayne hosted a really nice rehearsal dinner. There were a ton of friends and family members there and the toasts went on forever. It was clear that Brad and Jessica are two very special people that are treasured and cherished by many!

It was a western theme...
I loved the bandana place mats!

Pictures of the bride and groom

Jessica looked beautiful and I heard that the ceremony was awesome. Unfortunately I missed most of it because I was walking the halls with Mr. Cranky Von No-nap. Oh, well! There was a videographer so I won’t have to miss it entirely. I’m just glad that Brian was able to stand up with Brad as his best man. Brad & Jess really are a precious couple and I know we have many years of fun family times ahead of us!

Cutting up before the ceremony - this is when he SHOULD
have been napping!

All dressed up and ready for
the ceremony

Kiss the bride!!!!

Brian, Brad, Jess and her sister/Maid of Honor Jennifer

Cheesing for Grammy

Explaining to Uncle Brad and Aunt Jess
that he hated to miss the ceremony, but he will
DEFINITELY be watching the video later.

Look who’s walking!

May was a big month for our sweet Ben. He was officially weaned at the beginning of the month (May 6th), and now he is all sippy cup – all the time. TOO BIG!

He also took his 1st steps – one, two – right in the middle of the ktichen on May 29th. I was on the phone with Mom and I think I busted her ear drum when I screamed out! I hope my little outburst didn’t terrify Ben – he’ll never try walking again. I know I’m a little bit (ok – a lot) crazy… I was just so excited for him.

Way to go, Benji-bear! Now please stop growing! :)

Love that cheesy smile!

Let's go outside, please!

Helping Dad with some chores - that's my boy!

Looking a little concerned that Brian allowed me to have some
live plants. His feelings are justified. I'm glad I have the picture,
because they'll likely be dead by June.

My 1st ever Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to me! It’s weird to be on the receiving end of this holiday for the first time in my life. It makes the day even more fun because I still get to recognize my amazing Mom, Stepmom, Mother-in-law, and all the grandmas, but now my sweet boys are going out of their way to make me feel special, too… although they do a pretty great job of that all year long anyway!

Brian planned a wonderful surprise for me on Sunday. He came home from work that morning and went right to sleep like he always does. He usually sleeps until about 3 or 4, but he got up at noon and came into the kitchen and told me that he had taken Sunday night off. He could have stopped there – I was so excited that I would have extra time with him that afternoon, evening, and the following morning. The surprise got better, though, as he told me that Ben was going to spend the night with the Collins and we were going to a Bed & Breakfast in Gruene. This was our first night away alone since Ben was born. We had a beautiful room right on the river, courtesy of our dear friends that own the Gruene Mansion Inn. We did some shopping, enjoyed the quiet and the scenery, and had a nice dinner at the yummy Gristmill. We TRIED to sleep in Monday morning, but we failed miserably. I guess when you’ve gotten up by 7 am EVERY MORNING for the past 11 months, it’s kind of hard to trick your body into doing otherwise. Regardless, it was a wonderful way to spend my 1st Mother’s Day. Thank you, Babe, for planning the surprise and for helping me to be the Mom that I am. I love you (and Ben, too!)

Me & my sweet boy on my inaugural Mother's Day

The awesome Gruene Mansion Inn

Hanging out on the porch outside of our room

The view from our room - GORGEOUS!

Brad the Bachelor

Brad and Jess are engaged and the big day is fast approaching. Brian is going to be his brother’s best man, and I think he was most excited about planning the bachelor party. Much like Bri’s send off to married life a few years ago, Brad requested a party that was rated “G” (or at the worst, PG-13). It’s honestly one of the things I love most about the Barrick men – they were willing to honor their brides even on the night of their Bachelor Parties.

Here’s the guest of honor… his t-shirt cracks me up. “Game Over!”

The first thing they did was go to this arcade like place that featured this crazy activity that was a mixture of bumper cars and lacrosse. I don’t understand it – but apparently they had a blast playing.

There were also guns to shoot… very important and also manly.

Then there was Dance, Dance Revolution. They apparently needed a break from all the manliness. Oh, how I wish there was video of this part!

The guys ended the night with one of Brad’s favorites… Mexican food. It looks like they all had a great time!

I know Bri enjoyed spending time with his brother and the other guys. He won't say it out loud, but I'm sure he also enjoyed the brief break from his daddy & husband duties. I'm glad you had a great time, babe, but I'm sorry to tell you that your own bachelor days are long gone. :)