Christmas decorating

OK - so in true 1st time parent fashion, Paul and I take pictures of just about everything and Dane hanging his first ornament was one of those pics. So maybe he was more interested in his hand than the ornament but at least we tried.

1st night out

Last Saturday night Paul and I were invited up to Park City to the grand opening of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It was our first night being away from Dane. My sister, Wendy, came down to watch him for the night. While I've left Dane with Wendy before so I could go to work, this was the first time leaving him at night. I was missing him so much that night and missed being the one to put him to bed. I missed his sweet smell (mixed with spit-up), adorable smile, and cuddly hugs before he drifted off to la-la land. I only cried three times...

Even though i missed Dane like crazy, Paul and I had a great time with our friends. It was nice to spend some time together and go out. Thanks Wend for being a great aunt and taking care of our little guy.

scary santa

Every year my mom's family gets together for the Johnson Christmas party. My aunt has had the same Santa come to this party for over 20 years. It's one of my favorite traditions. This was Dane's first experience with Santa and while it looks like he was scared, he was really just tired and not happy about life.

Ready, set, ...
CRY!!!
Santa #2 - just add beard. :) Dad, stop pinching him and he'll stop crying. Actually, Dane loves his grandpa, just not last night.

great grandparents

Last Sunday, the 9th, we went to Paul's grandparents for the monthly Barlow Family night. The only ones to show were Paul, me, Dane, Allison, and Chad. We talked about our favorite Christmas memories and then instead of playing games, we were able to spend some time talking to grandma and grandpa about some of their memories/stories of growing up during the depression. Since I don't have any living grandparents I really cherish the time we can spend with them. And I love that Dane was able to meet his great grandparents even though he may not remember them very well.

smiles and funny faces

Since we haven't been able to post pics for a bit, here are a few of the many pics we've taken of Dane. He's a keeper!



Dad giving mom the look! :) Smile sweetie.

Smiles and funny faces continued

Gotta love those dimples
He makes us so happy! His laugh and smile melt our hearts all the time.

Blessing pics 2

We also realized we didn't get a picture of Paul, Dane and I all together for his blessing so individual ones will have to do.

Blessing pics

Here are the pics from Dane's blessing. The first one is right after his explosion. I realized I didn't have any pics of him in his outfit. Silly boy.



Thanks family for coming!
Four generations of Barlows - Grandpa Howard, Dad (Paul Senior), Paul, and Dane Barlow.
Mieka's supportive friends: Jennifer, Nicole, (Mieka), Ann, Liz. Thanks for coming ladies. :)

Blessing Day

Ok - so I've tried to post pictures of the blessing day three times now and it won't let me so I'll have to add them later. On Sunday November 25th was another milestone in little Dane's life. It was his blessing day. All of my immediate family except my brother Dan and niece Jessica were at the blessing. And all of Paul's family came into town from California to be there. In addition to them, we had Paul's good friend Patrick, Grandma & Grandpa Barlow, Agrelius girls (cousins), and Mieka's friends - Nicole, Jennifer, Ann and Liz.

Paul and I feel so fortunate to have such a great support group of friends and family. We both treasure the relationships we have with the ones we love and I think that was reflective in the number of people that came to support us on Dane's special day.

I'll admit I was a nervous new mom. I was a little snappy at Paul (sorry hon), and worried that things wouldn't go just right - whatever that is! I had to wake Dane up from his nap to get him dressed and over to the church. That meant he didn't get to eat all the way before the blessing so I was afraid he'd cry during it but he was a champ. And Paul did a great job on the blessing. I'm so grateful that Paul was able to do that for our son. Shortly after the blessing Dane had a huge blowout and it went all through his outfit. At least it was after rather than before. hahaha.

Today was also a great day because there were four generations of Barlow that were present. Paul's grandpa, his dad, Paul and now Dane. So of course we got pictures. Well - that was about it for the day.

Smiley Little Boy

Ok he was cute before, but now that he's starting to smile, its just getting ridiculous...

Chubby buddy

The last couple of days Dane has had diahrea and spitting up a lot more so I called the doctor's office and they told me to bring him in. It turns out that nothing was wrong but it was better to get it checked out just in case. The doc said that the reason he is probably spitting up is because he's been eating too much. He went from being in the 25th percentile for his weight at his two week appointment to being in the 75th! He weighted 10 lbs 1 oz tonight. That's 3 lbs in four weeks! I guess i produce a lot of milk and he likes to eat it all up. He's not on a diet but I need to make sure to watch and when he acts done, let him be done eating rather than keep encouraging him to eat. It's nice to know he's growing. We love his chubby legs! :)

Social Smiles

So they (those dang books) say that babies will start to have social smiles around 6 weeks. This is where they will smile back at you when you smile or speak to them rather than just the random smiles for no reason. Well - i think Dane had his first social smiles today. When he's had his awake time and I've been playing with him, he's given me lots of smiles and even some cooing. However, when I would try to catch it on camera or video he'd go stone cold. Figures!

I was able to get one shot but the flash was too bright.


So I tried to get one without the flash but he would get distracted everytime I put the camera up. I had to get him smiling then hurry and snap the pic - that explains the blurry photos.

Missing daddy

Paul went to California this weekend for his 10 year high school reunion. I decided it was best if Dane and I stayed home. While Paul and I have been apart before, this was his first time being away from Dane and I'm sure he's missing his little boy. And to cheer him up, I wanted Paul to know his little guy is missing him too. :) Have fun honey but hurry home! xoxoxo

Halloween - Our little Stinker

This year our Halloween consisted of subjecting Dane to a costume which he put up with for a few minutes. But when I realized I didn't get a shot of him with his pumpkin and put the costume back on, he let me know I'd gone too far.
Paul and I thought he was absolutely adorable and unfortunately the pics don't show how cute he really looked.

Dane getting bored with all the pics.
And, he's had it!

It was hard to get all three pumkins to show in the picture. In case you can't see, it has all of our names on them.

First bottle

Since I'm going back to work, it isreally important that Dane takes a bottle. We tried him with one for the first time last week and he took right to it. I was really glad - as I'm sure Paul was too. Plus, Paul loves to help out with the feedings. It's great because he can take part in some of the fun responsibilities (and yet he hasn't done the 3 am 'fun' feeding yet!).

First family photo

Self explanatory.

We couldn't believe he looked right at the camera for this one. I guess he's working on his modeling career early.

My mom, the paparazzi

By the time Dane can talk, he'll be telling me to stop with all the pictures, but for now he only has sign language to tell me what he's thinking. :) I'd like to think he's showing his shy side for the camera.

Then other times he'll let loose and show off by strikin' a pose.

We are always impressed at how alert Dane can be. And he's already so happy. Check out the dimple! :)

Happy 1 month!

Yep, it's my one month birthday. Don't I look cute? I know my mom thinks so.

Ok - so I can hardly believe it's already been one month since i gave birth to this beautiful baby boy. Dane is growing so fast. He is already getting chubby legs with little fat rolls. I guess he's taking after his mom. Hopefully his uncles won't give him the same nickname they gave his mom - thunder thighs. Thanks Dave and Dan!
Dane loves his tummy time - at least for now. :)
This new sleep method has become my salvation. The week Paul's mom was in town Dane was really fussy. He had a lot of gas and didn't sleep very well. My friend suggested to put him in his car seat to sleep so i gave it a try. The first night he slept 8 hours straight! So it was only a one time deal, but still... Anyway, he has gone back to a better sleep schedule now that the car seat has also become his bed.

Catchin' some zzz's

This is my first attempt to post on our blog so hopefully I don't screw it up too bad.

Here's to mom and dad trying to catch some extra z's with little Dane. Or Great Dane as Paul's extended family call him.

First walk

All bundled up and ready to stroll. :) And I felt like I fit into the mom-club in our neighborhood pushing a stroller.

Grandma time

Paul's mom came into town last week to see her new grandson. And she did as most grandma's do, spoiled Dane to death. He's wearing one of the new outfits she bought. On one of our shopping excursions, we had a little accident and the new mom was not as prepared as she should have been. As we were picking up lunch Dane made it clear his diaper needed to be changed. While we were in the drive thru I started to change him. Let's just say that I didn't know poo could shoot out of something so small and with such force. I was standing outside of the car and it not only hit me but flew past me! Amazing!!! Having Grandma here was not only good bonding for her and Dane, but it also gave me some extra time to sleep. Every morning Mychele would take Dane after his 6 am feeding so i could go back to bed until 9. At first I felt guilty but my guilt lasted as long as it took me to walk back to my room and my head to hit the pillow. :) Plus, I know Mychele enjoyed those quiet moments with him.

Growing so fast!

Dane loves his Leap and Learn music as noted by his face.

While this is still a newborn outfit and it looks like he's drowning in it, he has outgrown all of his other newborn outfits in just 4 short weeks. Dane is getting chubby little legs and I can definitely feel him gaining weight!

Cute Mommy/Daddy pics

Thought I would put all of these pics with mommy and daddy with little Dane together in the same place!!