Nonnie, Poppy, Dana Point, and Balboa Island

Hi everyone! I didn't forget you. There have been blog issues every time I've tried to post over the last week or so. So here's what's been going on in the Barber family... Gabe's parents came to visit and gave Andrew this adorable outfit. Aren't they cute?!By the way, we did not slick Andrew's hair with gel. He had just gotten out of the tub so he has wet curls for these pictures.
Happy Barbers.Look at those dimples!!!
Nonnie and Poppy babysat Andrew for us overnite so we got to enjoy our first nite away since Andrew was born. It was a really special time for us. It was fun being able to go back to just gabencheri as many of you originally knew us.
We went to Dana Point for the nite. We stopped at a few beaches on the way down there. I have a new favorite beach too- Salt Creek Beach. (Just north of Dana Point) It was beautiful!!! Sadly, our camera was not cooperating at the time. All of these pics are from Dana Point... which is beautiful too... just not quite as amazing.
There are two instances when you'll see Gabe run. One is if someone is chasing him with a gun. The other is to scare seaguls away.

A few days later, we went to Balboa Island for a walk around it. I didn't even get a frozen banana! What's wrong with me?! As you can see, Andrew loves to walk now. (Holding on to us, of course.) He is so proud of the fact that he can do it. We're proud of him too. :)

It's funny to think that one day Andrew will probably be as tall as Gabe.

This is his, "aren't you proud of me?" face. What a sweetie!

No Milk for Andrew

This morning we gave Andrew some yogurt, thinking maybe his milk allergy would be gone by now... and we thought it was for the first 3 hours so we decided to go to the beach. We didn't even get to the freeway and Andrew threw-up... all over the car seat and car... ewwwww... We circled around, came back home and within the next couple of hours he threw-up twice more. He seems to be doing better now, but one thing's for sure... No milk for Andrew!!! As you can see above, though, he's been in a great mood. Praise God!!!This is his "taco" blanket/jacket. First (above), he gets rolled into a taco...
and then he's unrolled into a tostada! (Hold the cheese!) He's thinks it's great! :)

His new cool thing is standing. He's such a cutie too. He almost always stands up with his hands raised in the air. ("all done" in sign laguage... we're pretty sure he thinks that sign means, "good job Andrew" becuz that's when he uses it most.)
I just liked this shot of my baby and me. I think you can start to see some resemblence. (Hair, dimples, smile) What do you think?

Proof

Above is the proof that I've been running. I am just starting to get back in shape. It's taken a while longer than I thought it would, but that's okay. I like to run, but I love to run once I'm in shape. This week has been fun. I did my first speed workout. (4 miles of intervals.) I ran around a field at a park near our house. The ground was wet and muddy. It was AWESOME!!! Wow. I miss that feeling of getting mud spattered all over my calves and shorts and my shoes being squishy and grassy. Does it get any better than that?... Oh yeah, it does. Tomorrow I get to run in the rain!!!

The Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday, we went to a fun pumpkin patch in Orange. They had a hay maze, a train to ride, and pumpkins everywhere. Andrew really enjoyed it. We even go to see ponies afterwards.I wish I had our camcorder with us for this. When Gabe first put Andrew's face in here, he made a really scary face and loudly shouted, "IIIIIIIIIII-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya!!!" It was hilarious!
I loved this tree! I think it's so cool whenever trees have a mind of their own.
Here's Andrew clapping for himself. He just started clapping this last weekend and he loves to clap for himself most of all. It's awesome!

Beach Day

Here are some pics from Monday morning at Newport Beach. Andrew was such a cutie! (Yes, that is sand all over the right side of his face.)
It was the first time Andrew ever really crawled around in the sand. It was so much fun to watch him and see where he'd go with the whole beach to himself.
You can see the tracks he made in the sand here. (Although the two parallel lines are from a lifeguard truck.) It was such a fun day. I can't wait for our next trip to the beach!

Barber Baby

My friend Amy made this of Andrew. She called it "Barber Baby" isntead of "Gerber Baby". I thought it was pretty cute. New haps around here are that we had a fun time at the beach yesterday and today I was supposed to leave with Andrew for a couple days to Fresno, but the little guy woke up with a cold. :( I'm bummed, but hopefully I'll get up there soon.

Let's Rock 'n' Roll

Well, I decided that I need some accountability... and you're the one I chose... yes, you. I have always wanted to run a marathon and I have finally chosen the one I'm going to do. On June 3rd, in San Diego, they have a rock 'n' roll marathon that I've heard is awesome. Anyway, I started running about 2 weeks ago and I thought, "I'll just go out and run a little 4 mornings a week and I'll be in shape by June." Then I looked at the race map. Boy did I have the laziness scared out of me! Once I was done crying, I decided all over again that I want to do it. I'll have to start waking up earlier than Andrew (which is a bummer any "new" parent can understand), but I really want to do this. Please make sure that I do. I'll try to keep you posted every once in a while. Remember, YOU are my accountability!

9 Months Old... and other news...

I haven't had a chance to update for a while so here are some random shots in no particular order. (I couldn't get all of them for some reason so there might be a couple more tomorrow too.)

Andrew is 9 months old now and just like every other mother of a nine-month-old, I can't believe that he's been out of the womb as long as he was in! It seems like he's been around forever! Being pregnant was wonderful and such a blessing, but having Andrew this past 9 months has been even more amazing! I love my little boy!

As for the stats, he has leveled off in weight (finally!) at 20 lbs 11 oz, which is about the 50th percentile. He is 30 inches long, which is 95th percentile. (He is definitley taking after his dad.) He says "ma" and "ba" and just today started saying "da". It's so cute! He has a surprisingly low voice too. He loves crawling and walking while holding on to something or someone and cracks up at anything. His laugh is amazing to me!

This is Andrew's "Morpheus" shot. From the back, he looks just like Morpheus from The Matrix.

We took Andrew to the zoo for the first time last Saturday. (We went to the one in Santa Ana.) It's pretty cute and great for little kids. Andrew had a fun time, but didn't seem to be too excited about the animals.

He just looked so cute in this outfit playing with his blocks. :)

My 2 monkeys outside the monkey cages. This pic also shows the mohawk that Andrew got to show off at the zoo.

How cute!

Grammy and Papa ELM came for a visit Sunday to Monday. It was so good seeing them. We had an awesome visit. My mom and I went to Glen Ivy and got pedicures... Neither one of us had ever been to a spa before. It was so nice!... and great mother-daughter quality time. :)

Last week, we got to go over to Amy and Danny's house. Andrew had a fun time playing with Noah... and his toys. Although he got a little jealous when he saw his daddy playing with another baby!

Another shot of Grammy with Andrew.

Isn't this a funny face? He looks like a rapper staring into the camera at the end of some song. (You can also tell it was almost nap time by the circles under his eyes) :)

Parrots II

I talked to my friend, Amy (different Amy from Noah's mom), about the parrots in town here and she did some additional research for our further parrot education. She sent me an awesome article. Even if you don't want to read the whole thing, read the urban legends section on the right to find out where the birds came from. Click here. And for those of you who think I'm a nerd, #1: I'm not Kimball Garrett who founded The California Parrot Project and #2: Read my sister Sara's blog entry on September 6th. Who's the nerd now???

Sushi

Today, Annie taught Amy and I how to make sushi. (Lin took the intermidiate course.) :) We started off our morning on a field trip to Marukai (pronounced like the ugly Uruk-Hai in LOTR) which is a Japanese market. It was interesting being neither one of us speak Japanese. (Although she, at least, knew what everything was.) This is our finished product. I learned how to make yummy sushi!!! Annie also made several other things that I don't remember the names of... mushrooms, "white carrots", fish cake soup, pickled (?) something, seaweed, and I know I'm forgetting at least one other thing. The sushi turned out really good. Although, there was some seaweed with wasabi on it and although I do like the flavor, my lips were ON FIRE!!! Whew!
Here's Andrew with Auntie Annie. (I learned that not only is she the infamous "Aunt Annie who has an alligator A... a... A..." from Dr. Seuss, but she also is famous in Taiwan... Or at least she looks like a Chinese movie star.)
Here's Noah enjoying lunch with us. He even joined in the conversation! (Non-sushi picture.) Gabe and I got to enjoy an awesome afternoon on Sunday. We played football at church with a bunch of people and then we went down to the Spectrum for some faux Chinese food at PF Chang's and then what could top off the afternoon except some ice cream? It was an awesome date! We were so blessed to have some time for just the two of us!

Retreat

Our church had our all-church retreat almost exactly a month ago. I don't have a post on it yet. That's not becuz I forgot or didn't have anything to say. I didn't know how to put into words how wonderful it was and what a blessing it was... Until I received these photos from Marco and Lin. I saw the above pic and just thought how much it explained the weekend. I still don't think I'll be very good with words, but I'll try. I know it's difficult to tell, but I'm not actally related to anyone in the above picture besides Andrew. :) I feel like I am, though. Gabe does too. I'm pretty sure that Andrew would agree as well if he could say more than, "aba!" EFCOC is an amazing family of God. The love that is at our church is incredible. They have accepted all three of us in as their family members. The way they care for Andrew blesses me more than I can tell you.
I had the awesome pleasure of teaching the 1st-6th graders. It was awesome! The kids understand the love of God more than I think they know. They have had it played out before them for so many years that it's normal for them. What a blessing in this day and age!

I am so blessed to be (most importantly) where God has called us, but I'm also blessed that this church is the place where God has called us to be. Thank God for our new church family who love us so much!

What's Up

Well, I thought I'd tell about a few things that the Barbers have been up to. Andrew got to go on a playdate at the park with his buddy Joshua and his twin Noah. (Although I forgot about the camera until after Joshua's naptime.) It was a beautiful day at the park. Andrew walked (with help) around the jungle gym (is it still called that?) and we had a fun picnic lunch.
I just thought this was an interesting shot of the little guy.
Yes, this photo is going into the future blackmail stack... playing with Mom's purses and her dolly (which he loves, by the way). :)
This picture is very decieving. It looks like Ben is feeding Andrew a beer, but it's actually not close to his mouth at all. It is hilarious, though, being Ben is at med school right now training to be a pediatrician.
I think Andrew started out the night a little bummed becuz Blake and Gabe got to meet Miss America that afternoon without him, but by the end of the night, all was forgiven. :)

Meeting Baby Brayden

Here he is! What a sweetie! What a wonderful little boy! He makes the cutest faces. He even has a one-eye-opened-Popeye face. Here, he's almost smiling! Andrew is Mr. Cool-Guy here on our way up to Fresno.Sleeping babies with dads.
I love this pic of Andrew and Gabe. Andrew is drooling over toys in a KBToystore window. Uncle Gabe with little Brayden. Although he weighs 8 lbs, he feels as light as a feather! It's amazing how buff you get after carrying a little one around!