Home Sweet Home! We returned yesterday from a FABULOUS trip to Dillon, CO for a family reunion with the Kreutz side. It was great to have everyone together for a weekend totally dedicated to family. I'll write again to share more details and pictures of the trip. For the moment, here are a few pictures I took on my phone that were easy to upload today. More to come soon!


(A little blurry) In the car driving to the mountains last Friday. Surprisingly, the carseat we rented with the car wasn't completely gross! Daddy did wipe it down with clorox wipes to be sure. Aw, sweet Daddy.


We got to bust out some warm jammies for Lydia on this trip! It was in the 30's and 40's in the early morning. (Of course last night at home in Dallas she wore shorts and a tank top to bed! It was in the 90's!)

Lydia likes to lay this way on couches or ottomans. She was actually watching her Praise Baby video after she woke up. Looks like she needs some coffee!

Driving back to the Denver airport yesterday.


This phone pic isn't actually from the trip, but it was handy today so I added it! This was Daddy and Lydia after church a couple of weeks ago. Aren't they sweet? Stay tuned for more Colorado stuff soon.
Hace a blessed day today!

We went to see Lydia's cousin Warner again yesterday! We had a barbecue with Omi, Opa, Uncle Mike and Aunt Katie. Ths picture above is (from left) Uncle Mike, Opa, Daddy, and then little Warner! We're all even now with 4 boys and 4 girls in the Barron family.

At one point Warner was crying a little bit in his bassinet, and Lydia looked concerned! Or confused. Not sure which. She was staring in the general direction of Warner's bed - eyes glued. When Warner's Daddy went to the bassinet to soothe the baby, Lydia came over and tried to see what was going on. Then, shortly after that she began to do some fussing of her own, and I'm sure Warner was thinking, when did my home suddenly become so noisy?

This weekend we had pictures made at a photo studio (Kiddie Kandids). Lydia did very well for the first few shots, and then... she quit on us. It was impossible to get her to sit still or not fight us about sitting on the platform. So, in the end, we got one good family picture, and a few sweet ones of Lydia by herself. The objective was to get a few in front of the great backgrounds they had, but it was right at that point that she began to fuss a lot, and we realized it was over. So in the end the cute little shorts and shoes I bought to go with her cute top didn't even show! O well. For the most part, we're pleased with the pictures. We'll try again when she's a little bit older and understands how to sit and pose!

At one point, the photographer suggested we take a 10 minute break and go walk around the mall with the hope she would settle down and be happy again. She was very happy strutting around, enjoying the sights. But then...we went back to try again and it was the same scenario.

Today we went to visit Mike, Katie and Warner! Warner is 4 days old now... Big Man! He's super sweet and cute, and his parents certainly appear to have this parenting thing down already. Lydia didn't have much of a reaction to Warner.. She played all over the house, strutting her stuff, totally oblivious to this new little person. We're glad she didn't mind when we held him. It didn't seem to bother her a bit. Maybe she's too young to have jealous feelings, but truthfully, I think she just didn't even realize he was real! Later we invited her to have a closer look, and she finally became somewhat interested in little Warner. Enjoy these pics.

People are always saying there aren't enough pictures of Lydia's PARENTS, so I am trying to be better about that...

That is Warner's toy... Lydia is breaking it in for him, I guess.

Aw, I she likes him!

Lydia went swimming again today!
Once she was finished, we stripped her down half way to dry off and she had so much fun playing, totally unashamed!

A few weeks ago Lydia had SO MUCH fun swimming with her Daddy and Uncle Mike, and I neglected to post pictures and video of all the fun! I have to tell you about her outfit... All the Moms out there will understand. Ok, so while I was off attending a baby shower, Oliver and Mike agreed to take Lyds swimming. I packed her swimsuit, the swimming diapers, sunscreen, a hat, a t-shirt, a change of clothes... Well, they get to the pool (there is a super cool pool playland in Mike and Katie's neighborhood) and they learn there is a rule that babies have to wear special plastic pants (much like a bathing suit, with a built-in diaper sort of thing) or they can't go swimming! Ok, no problem - the pool sells these special suits. HOWEVER, the largest size available was a 12 month. The lady tells them "they stretch" so it will likely fit anyway, but... BUT...she doesn't know our Lydia! No way! The guys tried and it was a definite no-go. So they packed up Lydia and all of her stuff and drove to a nearby Kids swimming store, found what they needed for $9.99, and returned to the pool. Ok, so here's where the outfit comes in. Instead of simply putting the new super swim pants on, and her t-shirt to protect her from the sun... Daddy puts on the t-shirt, the outfit she was wearing that day OVER it, and the new swim shorts over it on the bottom. So silly. Guys are funny. I still can't figure out why she was wearing her regular outfit over the t-shirt. BUT SHE HAD SO MUCH FUN and certainly didn't care what she was wearing!

Videos:

Guess what?! Lydia has a new cousin! His name is Warner Christian Barron and he was born on August 11th! He was 6 lbs 9 oz and he is absolutely perfect. Lydia is so excited to have another family member, and now she's not the smallest one anymore! Oliver, his Mom (Omi), Lydia and I drove out to the hospital near Keller (where Mike and Katie live - Mike is Oliver's brother) and got to meet little Warner just minutes after he was born! It was special.

Here's Lydia on her way to meet Warner!


Here we are just after we heard he had arrived! (Lydia is holding in her excitement. Plus...it was after her bedtime!)


And here he is!!


And the happy family...

We are so happy you're here Warner!! We thank God for creating you and carrying you safely into the world!

Bed Head!

Today Lydia went swimming with me and her Grammy (my Mom) and we had a lot of fun. (Thanks, Omi, for lending us your cute turtle floatie for Lydia to sit in!) This was Lydia's second time in a big pool (Omi took her once and they had so much fun). Today, not only did we play, but Lydia had her first swimming lesson from Grammy! She did great. No fussing at all when we put her under the water. She's going to be a little water baby, I think! She enjoyed being pulled around in her floatie and loved the "bouncy-bouncy-bouncy" game up and down in the water. (She was only mildly entertained when I would go under the water and then jump up and say "Peek-a-boo!") After a short bit, we put a t-shirt on her to protect her cute little baby skin from the sun. Between that, her 70 SPF, and her sun hat, this child was super protected!

One of Lydia's new favorite things to do is to throw herself onto the pillows. We'll lay them on the floor and she does a pillow dive into them and then smiles at us and giggles. Oliver likes to take it to the next level and pile the other pillows on top of her. She likes that. Here's a video, although she wasn't quite as giddy about it on this particular day...

Lydia went to visit her Pediatrician this week and he says she's doing great! She's on target for most developmental milestones, but hasn't spoken any real words yet, like "Mommy" or "Daddy" or "cat". She babbles a lot and sometimes it totally sounds like her own little language - nothing recognizable quite yet! The Pediatrician suspects this is because she's learning 2 languages (English, primarily, but German too with her Omi.) He thinks that's wonderful and in the long run is going to be a tremendous asset as she prepares for school. She's developing a certain part of the brain and her aptitude for learning, and this is a great time to learn languages. BUT, on the flip side, obviously she has to deal with 2 different words for milk, 2 different words for cat, etc. Naturally it's confusing! So anyway, we're still waiting for those magic first words. But you know, when Omi speaks german to Lydia she refers to me and Oliver as "Mommy" and "Daddy" so Lydia has no excuse on those 2 words! We've been consistent, Baby, so show us some love and give us a shout-out!

Last week we took Lydia on her first plane trip! All the way to Morgan Hill, California. I had business in San Francisco, so we decided to make it a family trip to visit extended family just outside the city (Oliver's Aunt, Uncle and cousins). Oliver and I were definitely intimidated by the idea - How will Lydia sleep? How will she do on the plane? How much food and diapers and toys do we bring? What else do we need from Wal-Mart before we leave? Will she nap well before we leave? There were highs and lows for little Lydia, and for her parents (!!) but overall she did great. The plane didn't seem to bother her ears at all, but she did melt down a few times because she was tired and annoyed that she couldn't move around.

While waiting for our flight at DFW Airport, we tried to let her walk around as much as possible to get it out of her system.

Yea! We arrived at San Jose airport! Good job Lyds! You made it!

We stayed with Aunt Cindy in Morgan Hill. Her home is beautiful, as are the surroundings! There were deer and horses and turkeys (!) that we could see from the balcony.

Lydia was fascinated by this music box! There are little ballroom dancers inside of it. She could have watched it for hours, I think.

More to come! I need to log off for awhile.

Lydia in her giraffe pool! She got to go skinny dipping.

Last week Lydia took her first airplane ride all the way to California! Pictures and video to come soon.

I can brush my teeth all by myself, sort of!