Man's 'Best' Friend

It's no secret that Josh loves dogs. He loves to wrestle, play, and rough house with a dog any time he gets the chance. The Military Working Dogs (MWD) on base come under Josh's company since they are the 'base police' so he goes to watch their training sometimes. They are super cool. But you can't really be friends with these dogs. They are only allowed one friend, their handler. But they can do awesome stuff, case in point:



Josh got to help with their training one day. Apparently you just trust that they only bite the blue coat. I would pee my pants. But of course, this was the highlight of Josh's day/week/month/career. :)




And even though a picture speaks a 1,000 words, a video might do even more. These dogs get MOVIN' after their target.


How it's done:



When they don't tell you when the dog is coming:






Only one downside to the day....Josh accidentally stepped on one of the dog's paws and broke its little toe. :( He didn't find out until a few days later, he felt bad, but I guess it's happened before.

Enjoy!

Ketchup. Sick.

Well, I just put a bunch of pictures on the computer from the camera and decided I must share them with you :) AND of course I have comments for nearly all of em so I can't just put up a slideshow. Instead I will give your computer a bunch of pictures to load and also give your finger a workout (if you have one of those mouse wheel scroll things)...


Yes, she is pointing....want to see it close up!?

I tried to ask her what she was trying to show me but all I got was the finger as a clue.



Here is Renae watching March Madness on the computer with Dad. Look at that tummy! : )


So sweet!



Here's our bath out of the sink...it looks like it went well from this picture, but that is false. She's been in her bathtub before, it's just awkward for the parent because of the way our bathroom is set up. Guess we'll have to get better!


First time in the Bumbo!


She's a pro!



Renae's new swimsuit from Grandma- can't wait to try it out! Whoo hoo!


Playing with Daddy...

This is her Palm Sunday dress! :) A little large, but hey. Eventually.

We are getting ever closer to our long anticipated trip up north...only a few more days. Believe it! (Oh, and I am probably going to finish in the top 3 of our basketball bracket competition. I have no idea how.)

Spring!

Well, I have a few funny stories to tell you about. First of all, I know I've talked about PWOC on here before (the women's Bible study I go to on Thursday mornings for military wives). I love it! Here's a small glimpse of the love Renae gets while we're there. (Yeah I don't see her the whole time. I set out her bottle and a diaper and when it's over someone brings her back to me fed and changed and usually sleeping. LOVE IT!)




So yesterday it was my week to help in the child care. There were 18 3-and-unders. WOAH. So needless to say Gwen and I were busy. I got to be the one to take 2 little 3 year old girls on their potty break. This is how that went.

Girl 1 (she's a twin and super cute): I have to go to the bathroom.
Me: Sure, I can take you.
We're in there getting situated and I start making small talk because it quickly becomes obvious that she is there for #2. And it appears to be uncomfortable and a bit of a struggle.

Me: So what's your favorite color?
Girl 1: Pink.
Me: Oooh that's nice.
silence
Me: What's your next favorite color?
Girl 1: Purple.
silence...I tell her about my favorite colors...just sits there and smiles at me. Clearly she's preoccupied.
Me: Do you have any other colors you like?
Girl 1: Green I guess.
Sheesh girl, give me something to work with here....insert about 10 MORE MINUTES of trying to make conversation in an increasingly stinky room...
Girl 1: I don't feel good.
Me: What's wrong?
Girl 1: My tummy hurts.
Me: Did you feel sick before you came this morning? (it smells like you might not have felt good before you came this morning)
Girl 1: Well, my mom took me to McDonalds.
Me: Do you think that made you sick?
nodding yes, then looks confused and shakes her head no. I asked her if she was all done, she shakes no again.
Me: So....what does your dad do?
Girl 1: Works.
Me: What does he do at work? (expecting any sort of soldier answer)
Girl 1: He changes clothes.
Me: Ohhh. Wow! Does he wear big boots?
Girl 1: Only when he comes home.

ha ha ha! Seriously so funny. So what she means is, her dad leaves in his PT's (physical training uniform) and comes home in his ACU's (duty uniform). Hilarious.

Girl 2: I have to go to the bathroom
I respond with something along the lines of sure and we go to the bathroom.
Girl 2: I don't need any help.
Me: Ok, I'll just stand over here and wait for you to get done. (there are no stalls, just one toilet)
Girl 2: Close your eyes.
Me: Ok, I won't look.
Girl 2: Cover your eyes with your hands. You can't look.
Me: I won't look I promise.
Girl 2: Don't smell either.
Me: Ok... (now I'm thinking to myself that I'd much rather breath through my nose than imagine that smell going in my mouth. SICK!)

It quickly becomes evident that she too, is going #2 and it is just as long a process as with Girl 1 and nearly stinkier. So there I am, Girl 2 chatting non-stop with me, while I stand with my hands covering my eyes, and thankfully my nose for probably a full 10 minutes. Sheesh.

So, after all that, we went and ate lunch with Daddy at the office. : )


This bush is outside of Josh's office. The flowers are about the size of tennis balls. And the white flowering tree behind it, is one of MANY in this area. There are also pink flowering trees and tulips coming up everywhere. It's so gorgeous. AND it smells great cause people are mowing their yards already. Seriously, I could drive around all day.

3 months old

I like to make a fist like this...."got your nose!"


Helping Dad play Scrabble. Yes, I hold the tiles.


Sitting up like a big girl!


Too big for the sink! Am I growing or what?!

Lately!

Nap Time!

This is too cute. A few days ago (it would be more recent if I wasn't so behind in blogging!) Renae fell asleep on the floor, so I adjusted the surroundings to promote an entire nap and wha-la...a 2 hour nap. She loves to be covered up when she sleeps. Here's proof. Look at that cute little foot!!

Dad and His #2 Girl

Tattoos, Family Style

The Barricklow family got a trip to the tattoo parlor for Valentine's Day from our wonderful nephews/cousins! Here's the b-e-a-utiful results!



This is my muscly G.I. Joe. Ethan and Garrett got his profile made into a tattoo in Army green. How thoughtful!


Yes that is a pig. Right on my lovies. ha ha. Josh said I should get my tattoo on my lower back. Sexy huh.


We can tell who the favorite is....Renae got a tattoo of Woody! You know it was hard to let that one go! :)

Exercise!

Renae and I have been going on walks around our neighborhood. It takes about 45 minutes to walk around the whole thing. And with an extra extra 10 lbs on the front of me, it makes it quite the workout! Here's a picture of us after our first excursion with the front carrier. It was really nice not pushing the stroller, though I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to rotate between the two because it makes it much harder to sing with my Ipod whilst carrying her. However, it's harder to talk on the phone whilst pushing the stroller so I guess that why I will alternate!


Yesterday on our walk, Renae had her pacifier in and I was paranoid the whole walk that she would spit it out and it would wheel itself into the gutter or something sick like that. But, she held it in for 40 minutes! She spit it out right when we got back to the garage. On the sicko garage floor. But, I feel I can boil away a garage floor, maybe not so much the street or a gutter.