The Barnes Life

More Pictures!

2012-01-07T15:11:00.002-06:00

The following are some random, but oh so cute pictures of our little family over the Christmas break.
Above is Mima "reading" to Mya and Reggie. It's a recordable book so they have been able to listen to Mima read everyday since they got home as well. Mya loves this book because she loves to hear Mima say her name in the book! Thanks Mima!
Me and the the best in-laws ever at Christmas eve. We had a great laid back evening, which was very fun.

Are these not the most beautiful girls you've ever seen? I love love love this picture of the beautiful Barnes girls.
This was taken on Dan's birthday. We went out to dinner with Dan's parents and the kids and had a great night. I love my hubby!
Last but not least, my pretty girl. I curled my hair one day and she wanted hers to look like mine, so to-da! Isn't she precious?

Christmas time again

2012-01-02T19:19:00.003-06:00

I really don't feel like uploading a ton of pics from the last few weeks, so here are the best ones from our family Christmas.Mya and Reggie both got bean bags this Christmas and they loved them and still love them. They lounge on them all the time and have so much fun. It's pretty cute.
Reggie got his first toothbrush for Christmas. He's a little obsessed with brushing his teeth, just like Mya is. Not sure why, but I suppose that's a good thing. And his p.j.'s are not unzipped, his zipper broke, so that's why they're split open.
Mya got a Minnie Mouse bicycle this Christmas as she specifically requested months ago. As you can tell, she really loved it!
And this last picture is of my babies looking at the lights at Krug Park in St. Joe. Both kids thoroughly enjoyed it. We brought popcorn and candycanes for the family outing and we had a great time. We took the kids last year as well so I think it's going to be a new family tradition. Well, that's it for now. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Three...What?!

2011-11-23T09:35:00.003-06:00

My dear sweet Mya Jae,

You have just turned three and I don't know if I could love you any more than I do right now. You are sweet, funny, caring, and so smart. I can't believe it's been three years since you've come into our lives.
At one, you were the silliest baby I'd ever seen. You were giggly and wiggly and all things precious. You were interested in everything musical and playing with mommy and daddy.
At two, you started really talking and forming sentences, which was so fun to watch. You loved playing with balls, counting, playing hide and seek, and swinging outside.
Now you're three, and you come up with the funniest things to do, like having daddy jump over you while you run around the table listening to music. You love to play silly games with daddy.

You had your third birthday party at Grandma and Papa T's house and you had a blast. You got new slippers and all sorts of other fun things. You were such a sweet girl and never once let all the attention get to your head.
You had a minnie and mickey cake, which is your favorite these days. And you sat so still while we sang happy birthday. You even did a great job blowing out your candles!

We went and made gingerbread houses in the morning of your birthday party and we had so much fun together. You loved eating the candy too. And you love to make silly faces right now, which I have to say is super cute!
Mya Jae, you are the prettiest, sweetest, smartest, most amazing little girl I've ever known. You are my world. You are growing up too too fast, but as you grow, you just amaze me even more, so I guess it's ok. We love you sweet baby! Happy third birthday!

To my sweet baby boy

2011-10-30T16:30:00.006-05:00

Reggie Russell, a year ago, you were placed in my arms and you have been rocking my world ever since. You were the most mild of babies, especially compared to your sister. (We love you Mya Jae!)
And you hardly ever cried, unless you were hungry or tired.
You have been adored by everyone, especially your big sister. She thinks you are the awesomest of little brothers and she is right.
You weren't the best sleeper until you were 6 months old, but then you figured it out, and have been sleeping like an angel since then.
You filled out nicely from the very beginning and those beautiful squishy cheeks melt my heart every day.
You eat like a champ and aren't picky about anything that's placed in front of you.

You have been very busy in the last year. You started crawling at 6 months and walking at 10 1/2, although you didn't really start cruising until just a couple of weeks before your birthday. Either way, this mama has had a hard time keeping up with you!

As I mentioned before, your big sissy just loves you. She is your super fan. You have no idea how lucky you are to have such a fantastic big sister.
You have loved your bottle for the last 5 months and I thought we'd never be able to get you to give it up, but in the last month, we've convinced you to give up all but one, which is in the morning. That's pretty good to me.
Reggie, overall, you are the smiliest, happiest baby I have ever met. You love life and life certainly loves you.
You celebrated your first birthday with all your friends and family and you were the star of the show. Needless to say, you loved every minute of it!

You have a sweet tooth like mommy and loved your yummy cake, but you didn't dig into it, like I was hoping. You were very polite but thoroughly enjoyed it. My dear son, you are a light in my world. You are all things sweet. Sweet face, sweet smile, sweet personality, and sweet laugh.
Now that you're a year old, you're starting to look and act like a big boy, but you will always be my baby. You're my love. This family would not be complete without you.

We love you Reggie!

Oh my kiddos

2011-09-27T11:52:00.002-05:00

The kids have been driving Dan and I crazy lately. Period. But... they are still absolutely adorable and sometimes, just sometimes, when you want to cry because they are so frustrating, they do something so adorable, you just can't help but laugh. Here are a few photos of my crazy frustratingly adorable children. We tried to do a little photo shoot with Reggie so we could include pictures with his first birthday invitations. And this little monkey does not sit still so this is about what every picture looked like. But still cute, right?
And mister Reg loves to put his head on the floor and stand like this. So silly.
And missy moo Mya is definitely my silly sweet girl who is really into making funny faces right now.
And bonus, she has just started really doing sweet smiles for the camera... it only took almost three years!
And last, this is our new development: Mya rides her tricycle and Reggie sits on the back where the storage is. He holds on tight and she can't pedal very fast due to the extra weight, so it works out perfectly. It's really cute. And I love how they like to play together right now.

So that's all for now.

Life

2011-09-14T10:03:00.003-05:00

I've been absent for a little while because life got in the way. I'm not sure who all reads this thing anymore but for those of you who do, here's a little photo update on the Barnes family. Things have been... well, I don't really know how things have been lately... difficult, wonderful, stressful, lovely... a little bit of everything all rolled into one.
"I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from?" Psalm 121:1
"The Lord is my light and my salvation-whom shall I fear?" Psalm 27:1
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. " Romans 12:9,10
"My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the Lord." Psalm 26:12
"Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from Him." Psalm 127:3

Random Picture Time

2011-07-14T21:30:00.006-05:00

We've been fairly busy lately, so here are my favorite pics from the last few weeks!Now that Mya has learned to take pictures, maybe you'll see more of me and Dan together. She took this all by herself!
Gotta love Daddy-Daughter kisses!
Doesn't she look so sweet and innocent? Don't be fooled!
Here's my little man waiting for the fourth of July parade to start! He had no idea what was going on but he didn't seem to mind it. I was just glad he didn't get pelted with candy!
Such a pretty girl!
Reggie's new favorite thing is to go down the slide. He gets so excited and waves his hands in the air as we say, "So big!" He is my big boy.
My sweet girl waiting for the parade to start. She was so precious and had such a great time. She loved picking up the candy and she loved eating it even more!
Papa J and Mima came for a visit for the fourth of July and the kids loved it... and so did we! We had a blast doing a few fireworks, playing, dancing, etc.
Mya really liked the sparklers. Mommy wasn't crazy about her holding them, but daddy didn't let go the whole time.
Mommy and Mya... love this girl!

And last but not least, a cute pic of Papa J and Reggie hanging out. Love you both!

ETA: Reggie had hit his head the week before most of these pictures were taken which is why he has a big bruise on his forehead. It lasted forever, but I'm glad to say it has finally healed up!

Summer Sun

2011-06-20T19:58:00.002-05:00

We have been loving the summer sun lately. I just love hot weather and my kids do too, thank goodness! Mya has been practicing her photography skills lately. She took this picture of me and Reggie. Not bad, huh?
Then I took this one of her. She looks like such a little model. Dan didn't like this one at all because she looked way too grown up.
We went and saw my parents not too long ago and got to do some playing at the park. Mya just loves the slides right now. But we also got to see horses at the park and oh my gosh, she thought that was so cool. I think she's going to be an animal lover like her mommy.
Here's my little dude just hanging out. He's such a happy boy.
And another good one of my handsome man. He just knows how to make my heart melt.

Summer + Two Beautiful Babies = Love Love Love.

Just a little update

2011-05-31T08:24:00.003-05:00

My kids have been exhausting me lately. Mostly because Reggie is crawling everywhere and Mya is... well, two. But I try to focus on the positives in life and here are just a few.
Mya has been trying to draw faces lately and this one is supposed to be mommy. I kinda look like an expressionless robot, but still, pretty good for two years old.
Reggie is my moving machine. Not only is he crawling everywhere, but he thinks he's big enough to pull himself up on stuff too. Not happy about that, but I guess I can't stop him.
My kids love each other, for now. I'm going to enjoy it as long as it lasts. Because I know there will be a day when they don't like each other so much. But for now, they are clearly best friends.
Mya loves to show Reggie how to play. She is such a good big sister and loves to show him how she likes to play. I have a feeling it's going to get them both into trouble in the future.
This is my favorite picture lately. When it was super hot out a few weeks ago, we put some water in a plastic tote (I know, we need a pool) and let the kids play. They both loved it. I can't wait until it warms up again so we can go swimming. Yay for summer!

Family Photos

2011-05-24T20:22:00.005-05:00

My friend Kristin at Jane's Angle Photography, does an amazing job of taking our photos. With five kids, there is bound to be some chaotic moments, but she does such a good job working through it and the pictures are always so good! So here are my favorites. Enjoy!

Isn't my sweet boy so handsome?

Life happens

2011-05-08T18:55:00.004-05:00

We have been super busy with life lately. In a good way, really. We just have a lot going on. And in order to spend more time with my family, I have not been getting on the computer near as much. But I have so many cute photos that I just have to share. They are mostly of Easter and today, Mother's Day, but there's a few others. Enjoy!

The Barney Balloon

2011-03-28T19:00:00.003-05:00

Mya had been admiring a Barney balloon at our local grocery store for a couple of weeks, just talking about it and pointing at it and letting everyone within earshot know that she loved the Barney balloon. (We don't even watch Barney, but whatever.) Well, her loving Grandma couldn't bear the thought of her not having the balloon for herself, so she bought it for her. I don't think it ever crossed her mind that she would be ever be able to actually own the balloon! My camera died while I was recording, but not before I got some really cute stuff. Enjoy!

Lazy Days

2011-03-07T11:29:00.002-06:00

We've had so much going on with the end of basketball season and everything else, so when we've had a spare minute, we've really enjoyed being lazy and doing nothing. Here's Mya "painting" the coffee table with soapy water. She had just saw a guy on tv who looked sad so she said, "He's sad and wants his mommy, but he's too big for her." I was laughing so hard that she started laughing so hard. She could barely open her eyes for the picture. She is our funny girl!
Dan coaching his last game of the season. The boys had a great season, but they did not end up making it to state so they were all a little disappointed. We're still proud of our coach!
Me and my sweet boy, just hanging out.
Mya loves riding Daddy's back. He's such a good horsie!
Mya is such a two year old right now, getting into everything. She had found a tub of vaseline and decided her face and hair needed a little moisture, so she coated them. She was a greasy mess for a while, especially her hair, but she is finally clean.... and the vaseline has been put where she cannot find it. Silly girl.

Basketball, Baby Boys, and Birthdays

2011-02-28T15:44:00.004-06:00

Basketball season is winding down, but not quite done yet. Dan's parents came up for a game a week ago and we had a great time with them, as usual. Debi snapped this family photo real quick before we left for the game.
And then I snapped this one of them enjoying the game with the kiddos. Mya is obviously completely into the game.

Mya loves Daddy's basketball games and cheers so loud for him and the boys!

The next day, Dan and I got to visit my friend's new baby boy, Bodie. He's absolutely precious, all 6 lbs, 8 oz of him. I love snuggling babies.
And last, but not least, we celebrated Sarah's birthday. I just love this picture of her. We had a great time and we got to leave the kids with the grandparents! Yay!

Elmo Live and other things

2011-02-11T18:13:00.003-06:00

We've had a busy last week. A lot of fun things and some not so fun. Here's what we've been up to.
Reggie got his first taste of rice cereal. He wasn't a huge fan. He took a few bites, but he scrunched his little face up after every bite. We only gave him a little bit, and this is what he looked like when we were all done. So funny!
Mya got to see the Elmo show and she loved it! We went with our best friends, Lindsey and Cami. Cami was super excited as you can see.
This is how Mya looked the entire time. She was absolutely mesmerized. She and Cami both sat so still the entire hour and a half event. I was super impressed with them. They both loved when they put stars on the ceiling and sang twinkle twinkle little star. It was so fun to see them having so much fun!
Then when our fun weekend was over, Mya took a spill at Target. She fell out of the cart all the way to the floor and I'm pretty sure her face broke her fall. She looked really banged up that night, but she was pretty much all better the next day, aside from a bruise by her ear. She's a little trooper.

Dan's been super busy with basketball games(all away games, boo) but thankfully, basketball season doesn't last much longer. The varsity boys are pretty good and we're hoping we can take a trip to Hays for state. We'll see. In the mean time, we're going to enjoy the weather, which seems to be warming up slowly. Bring on the spring!

Phone Photos

2011-01-28T15:36:00.003-06:00

So Dan and I recently got new phones and I wanted to make sure I got my pictures and videos off my old phone so I didn't forget. Here are my faves. There were more than I thought! They all brought back such good memories.My BFF's, Laurel and Lindsey. This was taken last winter before Lindsey's little Audrey was born. I love these girls because no matter how much or how little we see each other we can always pick up right where we left off!
My babies!
I love to capture this smile!
This was when Reggie wasn't very old and Mya was so ecstatic to get to sit next to him like a big girl!
Kisses, Mommy!
These next ones are all of Mya and she gets smaller and smaller. The one above is just from August and she already looks so much older to me now. It's amazing what a few short months will do to a little one.
Summer 2010
Summer 2009. What a difference! Especially with her hair!
I'm not sure how old she is in this one, but I'm gonna guess 6 months. Reggie reminds me so much of her. Same round face, bald head, adorable little lips... sooo cute!

Staying in

2011-01-18T12:12:00.002-06:00

Because of the cold and the snow, we've been stuck inside lately, but we've managed to find some fun things to do and to take some cute pictures!
We noticed Mya's hair was getting out of control ridiculous, so we cut it. I've been wanting to get it trimmed for a while, but Dan was still on the fence. So once I had his ok, I went to work. I'm not a professional hair stylist by any means, but since I was just trimming up the back and cutting some bangs, I figured I could do it.
My girl's first cut. Bye bye baby hair! So sad. But her hair looks so much better now.
I just love this picture of me and Reggie. He's so cute!
Reggie's been practicing his sitting skills with his bumbo. I think he's doing very well. And he really enjoys hanging out in it so he can watch what everybody's doing.
Dan took this picture of Mya and I just love love love her smile. Toddlers are so hard to get genuine smiles out of when the camera is on, but this is definitely a real Mya smile. And I promise the water isn't dirty; it's colored pink with some Elmo tub colors she got for Christmas! That's all we've been up to lately. We had a fun visit with Dan's brother and sister in law, but of course, I forgot to take pictures. And we're going to Abilene soon and then to Lincoln to visit friends. We have lots of fun times ahead!

Silly Times

2011-01-09T21:20:00.004-06:00

Anybody that talks to me for even a little while always hears about my "silly sweet" little girl. I don't know if it's a girl thing, a two year old thing, or even a Russell/Barnes thing, but my girl is super silly. She just is. And Reggie's still a little young for his personality to come out, but I have a sneaking suspicion that he is going to be just as silly as she is. Here are some photos recapping the last couple of silly weeks around here. I love the above picture of Mya in her K-State gear looking so silly. She just has to wear the white cap even though it's too small!
And Reggie had to wear his K-State gear too. Isn't our boy getting so big?

This was definitely a silly moment with Aunt Sissy! The kids were all pretending to sleep on their pillows when we celebrated Christmas with Dan's family. Aunt Sissy is too much fun!
Silly Mya with her cousins, "Sidas and Candyn." She loves her cousins so much and loves being close to them. Being squished in a chair with them was just the highlight of her night! I absolutely love the smile I captured!
I love this silly picture of Matt, Reggie, and the rubber mallet. Both Matt and Dan got rubber mallets from their mom. Not sure what to give the man in your life? Try a rubber mallet. It's manly, it's practical, and if nothing else, it's funny!
Don't you just want to squeeze those little cheeks and kiss those little lips? I definitely do, which is why he is one of the most kissed and squeezed little boys ever!
Me, Reggie, and Mya got to meet one of my closest friend's baby boy, Vincent James. He's adorable and I can tell already that he and Reggie are going to be good buddies!
My two silly sweet babies! Mya loves her brother and just hates for him to have to lay alone on the carpet, so she joins him often and just lays her head down next to his and says, "Next to you, Reggie." How precious is that?

Here's another quick silly Mya story: We pray every night together and we ask God to bless people in our lives. She always has a chance to pick who we bless and tonight she went in random order and started with Daddy, Auntie, cousin Jordan, Uncle Matt, and then said Uncle Silas(her cousin) on accident. She stopped and corrected herself, but then went on to say Uncle Grandma Rene, Uncle GG, Uncle Mommy, etc. She thought it was the funniest thing ever and her laugh is infectious so we both giggled for a long time before bed tonight. I'm a sucker for a good giggle; ask my parents. I giggled my way through high school! Life is too serious sometimes and being silly and having a good giggle does wonders for the soul!

What a week!

2010-12-30T14:02:00.002-06:00

Dan and I love our families and we love Christmas time, but we liked it so much better when we were just a little bit closer to our families and didn't have to be away from home for a week straight. Since we've moved, we had to pack up our stuff and our kids and head out for five days so we could see everyone for Christmas. I just picked a few of my favorite pictures from the festivities, so enjoy!

Little Reggie in his elf in training gear! Isn't he just the most adorable elf you've ever seen?
Mima with her five grandkids. Jordan, holding Reggie, Perry III, Mya, and Dorian. They had so much fun playing and being silly. They are going to be an ornery bunch when they get older, I can just tell!
"Super Mya!" Or as Mya says it, "Soup Mana!" She still can't say her own name, but we're working on it. It's amazing what a tea towel can become when you use your imagination!
So far Reggie doesn't love his baths near as much as Mya did when she was a baby. He doesn't cry or anything, but he just doesn't smile and coo like Mya did. But Grandma must have the magic touch because she was getting some big smiles out of Reggie during his sink bath. So cute!
Last, but not least, my favorite picture. I love this pic of Dan with his babies. We were celebrating Dan's birthday and Mya loved singing to him. We had a great time celebrating his day of birth as well as the birth of Jesus. It was a wonderful Christmas season and now we're ready to celebrate a new year!

Our Reggie Boy

2010-12-19T20:39:00.003-06:00

Reggie is two days shy of two months old. He is growing fast and getting big. He is such a sweet baby. Here is a little post about our baby. Reggie loves cuddles. He sleeps great on his own, no problem, but just loves to be held and cuddled. He totally relaxes, the bink drops out, and his head gets heavy. Speaking of sleep, Reggie sleeps about 7 hrs straight right now, getting up to eat only once in the early morning. He's doing so well!
Reggie loves all the attention he gets from his big sister. She makes him smile all the time. He just started cooing and making noises and Mya loves it. She says, "Oh Reggie, silly Reggie."
Again with the cuddles. Need I say more?
This is a face that Reggie makes occasionally. It's just when he's thinking about crying, but then changes his mind. This particular night, Dan was making noises at him that he must have not liked. He never cried, he would just make this face. It was soooo funny! I was super happy the camera was nearby so I could capture the moment.
Daddy and Reggie, just hanging out. Reggie is usually wide awake right after Mya goes to bed. We usually get our best smiles and coos at night. Do you think he realizes he finally gets some alone time with mom and dad? Reggie, you are a sweet baby, with such a mild temperament. We have loved the last two months getting to know you and can't wait to see more of your personality come out in the coming months. We love you so much!

Keep reading because there's another new post below!

First real snow and photo shoot

2010-12-19T20:20:00.003-06:00

I've always said if it's going to be ridiculously cold outside, there might as well be something pretty to look at too. So we had our first real snow this week and it was definitely pretty. And a very excited little girl got to play in the snow for a little while and she had so much fun... and she made the pretty snow even prettier!
Throwing a snowball. She was so proud of herself!
Mya and Mommy. As usual, she wouldn't smile on command, but that's ok.
Mya is always in Mommy's heart.
First picture of her walking out into the snow. I love this one.

Below is a little mini photo shoot I took of the kids one afternoon. I was clearly bored, and they proved to be quite entertaining. Surprisingly Mya cooperated quite well.
Mya loves kissing her brother. I'm not sure I can say that Reggie loves getting kissed as much.
This is my favorite picture of Mya, because her smile is so pretty, but Reggie does not look like he's having fun. By the way, Mya got a ring pop for the first time ever and she loved it! It only took her three days to finish!
Ok, this picture needs a little explanation. I was trying to get Mya to smile pretty, so I said, "Smile like this." That is the face she gave me. I refuse to believe that that is what I look like when I'm smiling pretty.
Last, but not least, I love this one of Reggie. His little face just cracks me up. He's so serious and so cute. Love it!

I Love My Life

2010-12-12T20:31:00.004-06:00

How could I not love my life when it includes seeing this silly face every day? There's just nothing cuter than a "wink" from a two year old, especially when she has crazy hair and food all over her face!
Mya and I made cookies the other day because we were bored while Dan was away at a basketball game. (They won the championship, by the way) Anyway, here is Mya eating her delicious cookie that she decorated herself.
Mya and her finished product. This was my first cookie decorating experience with Mya by myself, and I can't say I really enjoyed it that much. She is soooo messy and so silly and doesn't listen at all. I know what you're thinking... what two year old isn't like this when decorating sweet sugary cookies, but still. It was a pain in the rear. But she thoroughly enjoyed it and I guess that's what matters.
Saturday, my parents came to visit, and we had a great time. Unfortunately, I only took this one picture of Reggie getting loved on by his papa. He loved all the extra attention. My parents brought a headboard for Mya that my dad built. It is absolutely gorgeous. I'll have to take a picture and post it. You'd never believe it was handmade!
These next photos are just really random ones that I love. Above is my little monkey, playing with her Daddy. I just loved her face in this picture.
The next three, that's right, three pictures are of Reggie smiling. Lots of people have told me that you don't take near as many pictures of the second child as you do the first, but I have to disagree. These are just three of about twenty pictures of my boy smiling. I can't get enough of it and every smile seems cuter than the last! See for yourself!
My happy Reggie!
He loves the camera... and his mama!
Another cute pic of Mya wrestling with Dan. I wrestle too sometimes, but it's never as fun as wrestling with Daddy!
Last picture is of Mya going to Dan's first JV basketball game. She was so excited to see Daddy "play bassetball." She's even wearing her My Dad Rocks shirt. She was the most supportive fan, yelling "Go Team!" and cheering for Daddy. She even cried when we had to leave. She loves her basketball!

I love my wonderful husband who works hard for his family and I love my sweet kiddos who make me smile every day, even the days that are more difficult than others.

The holidays are here

2010-12-04T18:49:00.005-06:00

The holidays are definitely here and we are pretty excited at our house. In reverse order, here is what we've been doing the last couple of weeks.Above is a picture of Mya's section of the tree. She has a limited area of what she can reach obviously, so all of her ornaments found themselves in this little section of the tree. She had so much fun though. So far she likes the "God" ornament best, but we are repeatedly telling her it's not God, it's Santa. :)

This is her decorating the tree and Reggie's just hanging out.

There's nothing cuter than a little kid putting the star on the top of the tree. So cute!

The rest of the pics are from Thanksgiving which we spent with Dan's family. We had such a great time. Above is a picture of Reggie getting his first bowl bath. He was almost too big. My big boy!

While we were in Topeka my friend Krystal and her daughter came to visit. It feels like forever since we've seen each other and I miss them so much. Mya loves her friend Kaitlyn. We were both so excited to see them!

Reggie has recently started smiling and I love it. Here is a pic of a little smile he was giving. Isn't he just adorable? I'll get a better picture of him smiling soon.

Mya absolutely loves her cousins. Her and Camdyn had very similar pj's on so I just had to get a picture of it. You can tell they are related with their blond hair and blue eyes!

These last two pictures are of Mya and Reggie helping make cookies before we left for our Thanksgiving travels. Reggie was bored and just wondered when he was gonna get to eat the cookies!

And Mya had so much fun helping and checking on the cookies.
We are getting excited for Christmas and for all the family we will get to spend time with!

We can't stop her

2010-11-22T12:11:00.003-06:00

No matter how hard Dan and I try, we can't stop Mya from growing up. She officially turned two this weekend! She had an amazing weekend full of family, presents, cake, and just being adored! Here are some photos of our special girl and her "hatday" as she calls it. The first pic is of Reggie. I love his little outfit that his grandma got him. He was such a good boy all weekend and didn't even mind sharing attention with his big sis.

This is the first picture of Mya getting up on her birthday. There were yellow balloons, at her request, in the living room when she first got up. I love that her hair looks like alfalfa!

After we slicked her hair down and put on her party outfit, she carried her balloons around looking like a clown. It was adorable!

Here she is blowing out her number 2 candle on her Elmo cake! She blew it out like a pro! I didn't get a great picture of her while we were singing to her, but believe me, she thoroughly enjoyed it. She just loves the spotlight!

And after everyone went home, here's how she sat for quite a while, playing with her new Elmo Live doll. It was telling her a story and she just sat there so nicely listening to him. I'll admit, even Dan and I were entertained by Elmo. It's amazing how advanced toys are these days! She was spoiled by all the great gifts she got!
Happy birthday my little baby girl. Daddy and I love you and are blessed by you everyday! You bring a love to our lives that we never even knew existed!

Quick update

2010-11-15T17:16:00.003-06:00

I would have posted sooner, but my camera has had some problems and I had to buy a new charger. Anyway, here are just a couple of pictures of the last few weeks and I'll have more to come soon. Below is a picture of little Reggie. This is how he looks most of the day right now. He's such a good boy; he eats well, sleeps well, and is usually just a pretty calm baby.
The next two pics are of Mya on Halloween. She was a butterfly and had a great time. She loved seeing all the kids come to the door all dressed up.
We only went to a couple of houses because Mya really didn't like it as much as we thought she would plus it was cold. Oh well, there's always next year!
Overall, things are going well at our house. The sleep deprivation is just now getting to me and I find myself desperately waiting for Mya's nap time so I can take a quick snooze on the couch too. Dan just started basketball practice today, so he'll be gone until 6:00 every night. So Mya and I will be finding lots of fun things to do in the late afternoon/early evening for the next few months to keep us busy and avoid boredom. Anyway, that's what we've been up to. I'll update again as soon as I can find the energy/motivation. :)

Loving the blue!

2010-10-26T08:13:00.004-05:00

Welcome to the world, Reggie Russell Barnes!

Baby boy arrived Thursday, October 21, at 7:45 am after an exciting drive to Topeka at 1:30 in the morning! He weighs in at 7 lbs 8.5 oz and 20.75 inches long.

As you can see, he is absolutely perfect! He is such a sweet boy already! He's been pretty easy on his mommy and daddy his first week, which has been nice.

Big Sister loves her brother! Mya has been really good with Reggie. She loves to love on him a little bit each day calling him her "brudder" and giving him kisses.

Here's Reggie about to leave the hospital and go for his first car ride. I forget how small newborns are!

One last picture of little miss Mya. Here she is decorating her pumpkin that she picked all by herself at the pumpkin patch. She decorated him with glitter paint, silly eyes, a pink cotton nose, and sharpies. I forgot to get a pic of the end product, but it looks adorable!

Overall things are going well here, with a big thanks to my mom who stayed for a few days and practically cleaned my whole house! Thanks Mom! I'm not sure when I'll get the time or energy to update again, but I'll try to post some new pics of our family of four soon!

Oh my little girl

2010-10-14T15:27:00.004-05:00

Our little girl is such a nut! Here are just a few new pics to highlight what we've been up to lately.

Here is little Mya after she put her shoes on all by herself today! She was soooo excited that she couldn't even stand still! If you look closely, you'll see that she put them on the wrong feet, but who's gonna tell that to this sweet little face? By the way, the sweet hairstyle my girl is rocking is the "fresh out of the tub" look. Isn't it gorgeous? :)Down below is Daddy and Mya playing. This is how they usually look when Dan gets home from work. He jumps right in and starts playing and they usually end up "tackling." Mya loves to tackle.
The next pic is of Mya after she got her toes painted. She loves to have pretty pink toes and this day she was sitting in the chair admiring her toes. When I tried to secretly snap a picture of her she looked up and smiled so big.
And here is my baby enjoying the outdoors. She is such an outdoor girl, which we love about her.
In other news, we have less than two weeks until my due date. We are still holding on to hope that our little boy might come early, but as the days go by, I find myself thinking he's never going to come out! Silly baby.

We've been busy

2010-09-29T10:13:00.002-05:00

We've had so much going on lately, from selling/buying vehicles, family activities, doctor appointments, etc. Here is just a few pics of what we've been up to.

First of all, we're getting ready for our little boy to come into the world. Here I am in all my glory at 36 weeks!
Mya got a new slide and she loves it! Here she is pushing daddy down the slide and giggling like crazy. I tried to get Dan in the shot, but he was moving too fast for me, so that's why his head is cut off. Of course, Mya's face is really the cutest part anyway, right?
Mya has been obsessed with the computer lately. We have a laptop and a desktop and she loves both equally. Mya figured out that Daddy can get dancing "nanas"(bananas) on the computer, so this is her waiting patiently for Daddy to get them on the screen. She had her little head on his shoulder, which was so cute!
This is just a cute pic of Mya on the first day we had the slide at home. She loves it and has so much fun with it everyday.
My favorite pic from the month is just my adorable girl looking cute as always. She is such a silly, sweet, fun girl who keeps us entertained and on our toes. She has been learning so much lately, it amazes me. She is just the love of our lives!

Things I love

2010-08-22T22:23:00.005-05:00

I have tons of photos from the last couple of weeks and each one of them is things I just absolutely love, which is why the title of this post is things I love...
I LOVE ...sweet girls in sweet pigtails
...a little girl loving her "GG"
...swinging on the front porch after it rains
...when kids try to wink (Thanks Mima for teaching Mya how to "wink")

...little boy birthdays and cheesy grins

...watching little kids playing in the sprinkler
...watching my silly daughter play in the water in goggles in just a diaper because her parents forgot her swimsuit :)
...hearing my little girl clap when she's having so much fun swinging
...watching my baby try to be big like daddy walking around the house in his shoes
...making pizza with my girl and watching her pick the cheese off the top (she's just like her dad)
...getting little hugs from behind
...and from the front
...and not having to do anything special or amazing to deserve extra tight squeezes

Summer lovin'

2010-08-18T13:08:00.005-05:00

Well, we've officially moved to Troy, KS. We are sort of settled, thanks to my mom, who stayed and helped us unpack. We're still trying to get adjusted to the new place. I'll post some pictures of our new house as soon as it's all put together! For now, enjoy some pics of our adorable girl playing at the pool a couple weeks ago. She loves the water!

Oh and for those who want to know, our new address is PO Box 501, 232 E Elm St, Troy, KS 66087. That's right, we have a PO box because our town is so small we don't get mail delivered. Crazy, huh? :)

Play time and parties

2010-08-01T18:35:00.002-05:00

I don't have a whole lot to post right now because we have been so busy with getting ready to move. We are moving to Troy, KS, which is outside St. Joseph, MO on August 12th and are excited about all the changes that are about to happen. Anyway, here are a few pictures from recent things. The first one is a pic of Mya playing at the mall. She is playing in one of the little cars. Good thing we have a while before she's really driving!
Then the next pics are from miss Camdyn's 4th birthday. She had a luau themed party and it was fantastic! Here she is blowing out her candles!
Here's Miss Thing enjoying some attention too! I'm not sure what she was doing, but she is of course loving all eyes on her!
This is a picture of Camdyn when she opened up the new camera that Dan and I got for her. She gets a little embarrassed when everybody is watching her, so she just turned to the side and smiled! So cute!
That's all for now. I promise to post more of our new house and our new adventures in Troy!

Hello July!

2010-07-11T19:22:00.007-05:00

Things have been a little crazy around here. Dan got a job in Elwood, KS, which is outside St. Joseph, MO. We are so excited about him teaching and coaching again after a long year of substitute teaching! But we have a month to get moved, so we've been a little busy! Anyway, here is my best at recapping the last couple of weeks!Dan and I had a wedding to go to out of town, so we stayed with my parents that weekend. We had a blast hanging out on their new expanded deck! Mya loved all the space! Here she is all sweaty after playing hard. This is her doing "Ta Da!" except for she usually just says, "Da!"
Isn't this the cutest picture ever? My parents were rolling around on the floor with Mya and Mima snagged a kiss! Love it!
Here's me and my sweet niece Jordan just before she left to go see her dad in Georgia for a whole month! Dan and I wanted to spend some extra time with her before she left and she got to choose any place she wanted to eat. Can you believe she picked Sirloin Stockade? We are definitely related because that's one of my favorites too!
So for the 4th of July, Dan's family had their big family reunion. It makes for one long weekend, but is pretty fun. I just love this picture of our nephew Silas and Papa! Silas is such a sweet boy and that smile is just perfect!
Here's a pic of Dan and Mya watching fireworks! This is her second experience with fireworks, but because she was so little last year, we weren't sure how she would react. But she loved them! She laughed and clapped her hands and was just adorable!
I love this picture of me and Camdyn, our adorable niece! She watched the fireworks like a trooper although she wasn't fond of the loud ones. It was fun to be able to watch them with her this year!
Mya is 19 months old and this is a picture of her first experience with a Sonic slushie. I'm actually a little shocked myself that she hasn't had one earlier, since we frequently give Sonic our business! She was saying, "Cheese!" in the picture and she loved her slushie!
Last but not least, my favorite picture recently! She is just our little summer beauty!

Hope everyone is enjoying their July so far, and staying cool of course!

Great weekend

2010-06-21T17:45:00.003-05:00

Mya loves her daddy so much that a weekend of celebrating him is pretty much like any other weekend to her. She loves to play with him because he makes up silly games for her. She loves to cuddle with him because he squeezes her tight. And she loves to read with him because no matter how many times he's read Curious George in one day he won't ever turn her down. I've never seen devotion like I see from Dan and his baby girl. He amazes me every day with the amount of patience, respect, and love that he gives her. And I love him for that. Below is a picture of me and Dan at his parent's house over the weekend.
And here is a pic of Mya and her daddy on his special day. It was the end of the day, which is why they both look tired. But still a cute picture!
And I just had to include this last picture of my little missy. She had played hard outside and was all sweaty and tired and still looked so gorgeous to me.
I have so many other pictures from things that have gone on lately, like my sister's surprise party, which turned out great! I'll update again soon.

Sweet baby boy!

2010-06-01T22:27:00.004-05:00

Today was the big ultrasound at 19 weeks and we are adding a little boy to our family! We are so excited and just know that Mya will be amazing with her little brother! Here is sneak peek at our little guy.
Above is his little foot. A little blurry, probably because he is busy kicking and squirming.
Here is a good shot of his little hand. Just perfect.
And here is his profile. He is healthy and growing perfectly. Just another 21 weeks, give or a take some, until he joins our family. Yeah!

Crazy times with Mya Jae

2010-05-23T18:30:00.003-05:00

Those of you with kids know that some days are more predictable than others. Those of you without kids are probably smart enough to know that kids are just like adults... some days you just feel like being grumpy. Anyway, I think it's safe to say Mya has entered the "terrible two's" stage of her childhood. She's only 18 months, but as with most things in her life, the terrible two's have come a little early. She is pretty structured child, with a set routine, but that doesn't seem to have any meaning when it comes to a day where she just doesn't want to listen. Here is a snapshot of how her mood changes from day to day. Enjoy!
My sweet girl, playing in our spare room, eating cheerios! Love that smile!
My naughty girl, after she has drawn all over her shirt with dry erase marker, which is why she has no shirt. Also, if you look closely, she's drawn all over her hand and her knee. And I just have to add, this is NOT the first time she has done this. She is supposed to know better!
My sweet girl is back... styling in her new super cute Target outfit. Probably standing watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Imagination Movers. She usually prefers to stand instead of sit... funny girl!
Now, Mya was not being naughty in this picture because I gave her permission to play with mommy's money. But doesn't she just look like she's doing something she's not supposed to?
Here's little missy with her new magna doodle. She was so excited to play with it and has played with it basically everyday since she got it!
My favorite picture! No matter how bad those terrible two's are raging, this sweet little girl is in there somewhere! Remembering that makes the rough days a little more bearable!

Yeah for pictures!

2010-05-03T21:50:00.005-05:00

I'm going to attempt to play catch up with some pictures from weeks ago that I'm just now putting up. The first ones are of our trip to Nebraska. We went to visit our friends Adam and Lindsey and their adorable daughters Cami and Audrey. Cami and Mya are only a month apart. And baby Audrey just joined their family about a month and a half ago. Anyway, here is Cami and Mya ready for nap, clearly, with their binks and their woobie/bunny. Too cute, right? Mya loves her friend so much. They played so well together!
Here is miss Audrey, all cute and cozy in daddy's arms. She's absolutely adorable!

Ok, those of you who really know Mya, know that she is a kisser. She loves giving kisses, especially to animals. If you know that, you also know that her kisses more often than not, end up being more like head-butts. Here she is giving Adam and Lindsey's dog Birkley a "kiss." What a silly girl!
Moving on to Papa's birthday. Mya just had to be in on the action, so she stood next to him the whole time while we sang happy birthday to him. She was so excited, it was like we were singing it to her!
Last but not least, we have Easter photos! This year instead of dying eggs, we made them out of rice krispy treats and dipped them in chocolate, butterscotch, sprinkles, etc. It was a ton of fun trying to make them because rice krispy is very sticky! I walked away the least messy by far! Mom and Jordan just couldn't compete with my egg molding skills!
Below is a picture of my parents, with my niece Jordan, and Mya, and even a little bit of my parent's dog, Dodge. My parents yard was perfect for an Easter egg hunt!

Here is Jordan and my nephew Dorian! Dorian is going to be two soon. He's such a big boy and such a good little brother. And Jordan is a great big sister! Love those kiddos! My other nephew Perry was napping, I think.
This is Mya at Aunt Vicki's house. She was trying to sneak some candy in before we were all done. I had to get a picture of it. You can just tell by her face she knows she's not supposed to be eating that. This is a very normal face for her, usually when she's caught getting into mommy's purse though!
Well, that's it for now. I am in the second trimester of pregnancy with baby number two and feeling good so far. The sonogram will be the next big thing in just a few short weeks! We'll keep everyone updated for sure!

Quick update- with fun news included!

2010-04-20T10:32:00.003-05:00

I know it's been a while since I posted. I promise there are good reasons for that. Here are just a few: First, the standard "we have been busy" applies. I won't even go into detail. Just trust me, we really have been busy. Second, I left my camera cord in Nebraska at my friend's house when we visited for the weekend. The third, and most important reason that I have been behind is.... wait for it... I'm pregnant! I hope those of you who are picture junkies stayed with me long enough to read that part of the update, since it is the most important! There is going to be another Barnes family member in late October or early November, depending on if he/she wants to be fashionably late. My official due date is October 26th. I am currently 3 months pregnant and feeling great, but there for a while, I just could not find any motivation, which is why the blog was the last of my worries. So once I get my camera cord, I promise a blog update with pictures! Bye bye for now!

16 months old... and loving life!

2010-03-21T09:59:00.002-05:00

Our little baby is 16 months old and is sillier than ever! She loves to talk(and by talk, I mean babble), and laugh, and dance, and play with daddy! Here are a few pictures of miss thing enjoying life! And there's a new post below of Mya showing off her dance moves that she's learned in her 16 months of life!
Above is a picture of Mya jumping on Daddy's back! It's a little fuzzy, but check out that smile! She was having a blast!
Dan has been home with Mya all week since he's been on spring break. Well, one day Mya was on her horse, which is nothing unusual, and she wanted her sunglasses. Then next, she wanted her "woobie" (blanket), and then she wanted her pacifier. So like a good daddy, Dan got her all the things she wanted so she wouldn't have to get off her horse and here is the outcome! I love that she's so serious!
This is a typical picture of Mya. She loves to have things on her head. Apparently, so did her mommy! I'm so proud!

When it was warm a couple of weeks ago, we went outside and played and Mya had so much fun exploring in our back yard. She just loves to walk around and look at things.
And last, but not least, here is a pic of our adorable girl... squatting! She does this often and although it's not lady like, it's so funny! We love it and we love her!

Out Little Dancer

2010-03-21T09:25:00.003-05:00

Mya loves to dance. She dances to any kind of music, to loud noises, and to any kind of toy that plays a tune. She is hilarious! Check out her cool dance move over at Grandma and Papa's house!

McDonald's anyone?

2010-02-23T22:30:00.004-06:00

Ok, it's true. We give our child McDonald's every once in a while. Because seriously, could you tell that sweet little face that she can't have delicious chicken nuggets and french fries? I can't. But just so you know, we usually get Wendy's because we feel like they are a tad bit healthier. But this day she was sharing 100% greasy chicken nuggets and fries with daddy. : )

What we've been up to

2010-02-15T22:07:00.003-06:00

Mya had her first experience with yogurt all by herself. She doesn't look too bad, does she? She felt so big playing in it and trying to pick it up, both with a spoon and with her hands. Hilarious!Here's my handsome new nephew with his cute little scrunchy face! Perry Cecil Stevenson III, welcome to the world!
My sweet niece just turned 10! I can't believe it. She's such a good girl! Dorian wasn't feeling his best this day, which explains his little face in this picture. I love them bunches!
Mya and I got to hang out with our BFF's Lindsey and Cami. (And Adam was there too. He can be out BFF too!) Cami and Mya were kissing in this picture, but it happened so fast my dad couldn't get the pic. You'll just have to trust me that it was adorable!
Last but not least, sweet Miss M hanging out on the dog food container. She loves to push it around my parent's kitchen and this day she decided to take a rest from all her pushing and just sat down on top of it. She is so creative, right? Or silly, whichever word you choose!
That's all for now! More later!

A little late...

2010-02-03T21:04:00.003-06:00

We have been busy, which is why these pictures are a little late in getting up. Anyway, last weekend was so much fun for us because we got to hang out with Aunt Sissy and cousins Camdyn and Silas. We had such a fun time spending time with them. I was worried we'd never see them since they moved to KC. Anyway, Mya wore her K-State stuff even though we lost to KU. We said "Go Cats!" anyway!
The weekend before that I got to see one of my bestest friends, Tracy! I haven't seen her in three years and she finally got to meet Mya. We went to a baby shower together and got to hang out. It was wonderful. Tracy is one of the sweetest, most thoughtful people I know! So glad we got to see each other! I miss you!
I just had to include a cute picture of Mya playing in the snow for the first time. We have a hill in our backyard and Daddy had to hold her hand for a while so she wouldn't go tumbling down it, but for the most part, she played all by herself, falling and laughing and having a great time! She didn't want to go inside, so we played on our patio for about 20 minutes after we had already spent forever outside already. Even now, when we're outside for even a little while, she wants down and wants to play. I love that she loves to be outdoors.
Ok, I love these next pictures. Camdyn loves to take pictures and so I let her take some pictures for a while with our camera and she actually takes some pretty good ones. She's adorable! Anywa, Me, Dan, and Mya went to visit my Grandma one weekend in Excelsior Springs, so of course we had to stop and see Matt and Sarah and the fam while we were sort of passing through. We got to see their new house and play Wii and eat dinner and it was such a great time. Me and Camdyn played bowling on the Wii and she taught me some Wii bowling techniques! We had a blast!
Me and little Miss Camdyn hugging it up! Love this girl. I promise I took pictures of Silas too, him and Mya were just always on the move that I didn't get any good ones. Maybe next time, right?

Well, Dan and Mya and I are busy and loving it. We've really noticed how much Mya loves her babysitter, Jamie, lately and we are so glad. She loves being over there and Jamie does such a great job with her. She really is a huge blessing for us!
Mya is also really starting to talk more and more, which is so much fun. She tries to say just about everything we do, but of course, it usually doesn't come out like we say it. But at least she's trying. She says daddy, kitty, uh-oh, moo, shoes, toes, socks, and she even said thank you once. She's such a smart girl. Oh, where has the time gone? My sweet baby is growing up. But I am loving it!

"Chase"

2010-01-12T18:25:00.005-06:00

When I was growing up, my favorite thing to play was "Chase." My dad would chase after my sister and I all around the house and we loved it! It would entertain us for hours, seriously. Well, Mya loves to play chase with me and Dan too, which is so much fun for us. So when my parents came to visit, she initiated playing chase with my dad, which was hilarious. Here is a picture of my dad chasing Mya and her running to my mom. So cute!
And here's Mima keeping Mya safe from Papa! So cute! She was giggling so hard!
Just a typical day with my missy moo, that's what I like to call her! All smiles in the morning as that is her favorite time! Good thing there's not a picture of me because I am a complete grump and hate the mornings. Same with Dan. We're not sure where she gets her love of the mornings from, but it's not from us! (We blame Mima and Papa!)
Mya got a stroller from her Aunt Sissy and Uncle Matt for Christmas and to say she loves it is an understatement. She plays with it constantly. She puts her bear in it, her kitty in it, block in it, sippy cups, etc. and pushes it all around the house. All I have to say is, "Mya, go get your kitty and put it in your stroller" and she does it without any help or anything. She's so smart! Anyway, thanks Aunt Sissy and Uncle Matt!
Last, but not least, here is Mya reading with Grandma and Papa. Course, at this point, she wasn't so much reading as she was being silly. And my goodness, she is so silly! Well, that's all for now. Stay warm! Or try to, at least!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-02T13:05:00.005-06:00

There is so much to cover since I last updated, but as usual, I don't really have the time to get into everything, so here are a few pictures from Christmas and I'll try to post again soon. We took a ton of pictures, so this is just a sneak peak!
See, Mya really is an angel! Grandma and Aunt Vicki were having the kids put on an impromptu skit of the birth of Jesus and Mya got to be an angel. Cutest angel I've ever seen!

Just a quick family photo by the tree on Christmas Eve!Mya on Christmas morning, peeking into her stocking. She got her first toothbrush!Here's Mya opening up a gift from Mommy and Daddy. She really didn't know what to do with her presents but she was definitely excited once they were opened and she realized she had a new toy!Here's Mya listening to a book with Mima and Papa. They had bought her a recordable book from Hallmark and Mima recorded herself reading the story to Mya. Mya was absolutely mesmorized by it and she still is! Overall, we had a great Christmas and were so glad to not have to travel hardly at all this year!

Thankful...so thankful

2009-11-27T20:08:00.004-06:00

What a fun year it's s been. This time last year we were getting to know our sweet new baby girl, miss Mya Jae, who was only one week old. I'm almost positive there is a picture just like this one from last year of my mom talking to Mya. Mya loves her heart to hearts with her Mima.
Mya has her Mima and Papa wrapped around her drooly little finger! She loved spending time with them this holiday. She talked and talked and talked to them. I'm pretty sure she was telling them her Christmas list! I wish I had gotten a picture of Mya with my parent's dog, Dodge, because she was loving having him around. She would talk to him and pet him and do what I call her "cheerleader" face where she has her mouth open wide smiling! I'll have to get a picture of it! What a funny girl!
Ok, these next pictures are out of order because that's how my computer puts my pictures on here and I don't have the energy to change them. So they are backward. But you'll get the general idea. This is Mya in one of my favorite outfits she got for her birthday reading a book in her new princess chair that she got from me and Dan. She loves to sit and read in it. So cute!
Here's my sweet girl eating her birthday cake at her party. It was a great day, great party, and I really think she had a great time!
Here we are singing Happy Birthday to our little one year old. She had a leopard print cake with her picture on it. It couldn't have turned out better!
Why, yes, that is a tutu on my sweet adorable girl! She looked like a real diva princess!
Does it get any cuter than this? I didn't think so!
This is a picture of Mya eating a cupcake on her real birthday. She had no idea what she was supposed to do with it. She ended up just flinging the frosting around and not really eating any of it. I was glad we had a "practice run" because she actually knew what she was supposed to do at her birthday party.
And this is just an adorable picture of my blue eyed girl playing in my hat. She walked around the house forever in it and when I finally took it off of her, she tried to put it back on herself. She is so funny! Mya is such a joy and we are so truly thankful for everything she is and everything she will be. She is silly, sweet, loving, adventurous, shy, talkative, naughty(surely not, right?), and everything we hoped she would be at one year old! Happy Birthday our pretty girl! We love you more than we ever imagined.

Stupid Computer!

2009-11-24T22:20:00.002-06:00

So my little baby girl turned one last Friday and we have tons of photos to show from her actual birthday as well as from her birthday party on Saturday. So I finally sat down tonight to upload them and do lots of fun stuff with them, including order some prints and guess what? My computer won't let me upload them. It absolutely refuses to let me get them from my camera to the computer screen. I am so mad! So I just wanted to let you know that we have beautiful fun pictures of our sweet girl...but can't show them off just yet. But soon. Or else. Do you hear me computer? I'm going to throw you in front of a car if you don't work with me here. I don't think it's listening.
Well, anyway, without the pictures, I can tell you that we had a great birthday weekend! Mya had such a good time turning one. We got to spend time with our family and friends and have a great time celebrating Mya's first year of life. She had her one year check up which went really well. I can't believe she's 30 inches long and 19.2 pounds! She is tall and thin according to the charts, which I'm sure can be attributed to all the running around she does, because she certainly knows how to eat! She's developmentally doing great and looks healthy and happy! We're so proud of her. I promise I'll post pictures of our happy healthy missy moo as soon as I can. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving!

Time flies

2009-11-02T21:19:00.007-06:00

Happy Halloween... a little late! This year was so much fun since it was Mya's first halloween. We don't usually get too excited about halloween, but isn't she just the cutest K-State cheerleader you've ever seen? She had such a good time walking(toddling) around the block with her cousins. I just love the picture above of us walking together. So cute!
Her cheerleading costume is actually a 2T that someone gave to us, but I couldn't wait until next year for her to wear it. But as you can tell, it was a little big. I love this picture of Mima and Jordan! Jordan was a Manhattan cheerleading and she was so cute!
And here's Dad trying to walk with both Dorian and Mya. That is not easy. Especially because Mya kept tripping over her shoes. Silly girl. In her defense, walking is hard!

Dan took this picture of Mya and it is one of my current favorites. We can't hardly get her to sit still these days, which is a lot of fun! She is always babbling, playing, and most recently, walking!
The above picture was taken at my friend Lindsey's house when Cami turned one. I know it doesn't really look like it, but Cami is actually giving Mya a hug and it was adorable. And Mya didn't even mind it. They got along so well! They are going to be best friends, I can tell!
And I just had to add this picture of me and Camdyn all dressed up in her snow white costume... her favorite princess! Isn't she precious?

Well, that's all I've got for now. Just waiting for Mya's birthday and for Thanksgiving... my favorite holiday! What's not to love about family, friends, and good food? And Dan would add football to that list!

So Much to Cover

2009-10-08T21:58:00.004-05:00

Things have been crazy busy here lately, which is why I have not posted anything lately, but I promise we're all still alive and doing well. Here is just a snapshot into our lives. Dan and I went to hang out with some of my dearest high school friends and their spouses. Here is a pic of Kristin and her little man, Jacob (and her newest little man Nathan entered the world just a couple of weeks later) and then there's Morgan with her adorable little guy Camilo. We had such a fun time with them and it was so neat to see all of us as moms together.And then we went to see our friends Cody and Amanda with their little bundle of joy, Ryder! He was born by emergency c-section a month early, but him and mom are doing really well. He is such a sweet baby!Then just recently we went to see Mima and Papa for Mima's birthday. The weather was absolutely wonderful and we played outside for a while one afternoon. Mya loved this ball so much... maybe a good birthday present idea? I'll put that one the list of the million things I want to buy my beautiful girl for her first birthday.
When you have one Mima who doesn't like her picture taken much, one nine year old who can't sit still, and two small children who won't smile or look at the camera when you want them to, this is the best picture you can get!
More recent events, Dan got to have a guy's weekend! One weekend a year, him and his college/high school friends get together and... well, I don't really know what they do, which is the way it should be, I think. It just so happened, that his college friend, Craig, was here from Georgia, so we got to see him for a little bit before he left for his guy's weekend. Here's Dan, Craig, "Uncle Josh" and Mya. I love those guys!
So there's just a little update about us. I am going to try really hard to stay updated on this thing. We've got my best friend's baby's first birthday coming up, then Mya's first birthday *November 20th* and then Thanksgiving! And of course, all the little things in between! So I'll try my best to get pictures up of all the exciting things going on!

Mya's world

2009-09-17T20:20:00.004-05:00

Right now, Mya is kind enough to let Dan and I be a part of her world. And because we don't really have a lot going on right now, I thought I'd give you a glimpse into it. So here are some of Mya's favorites things.

Favorite silly song: Bingo (was his name-0)
Favorite show: Wheel of Fortune
Favorite words: dada and a-da
Favorite sounds: farting sounds, of course
Favorite toy: anything that plays music or that she can throw around
Favorite thing to do: there's several, so the top three are taking baths, standing(by herself), and playing with the cabinet doors in the kitchen or bathroom
Favorite foods: peas, mandarin oranges, watermelon, cantaloupe, cheerios, and goldfish
Favorite thing about daddy: he plays "where's daddy" (can't explain it, you just have to see it)
Favorite thing about mommy: sings "Free" by Ginny Owens after every bath (she squeals as soon as I start singing it, and it's not because I'm a good singer)
Favorite thing to do with daddy and mommy: read, read, and read! She loves books!

Our favorite thing: being around Mya and enjoying all of the above things with her!

Just a Few Pics

2009-08-30T21:07:00.007-05:00

Things have been super busy around here, but here are a few pictures of us recently. Here is me, Mya, and cousin Camdyn at cousin Silas' birthday party. Silas turned one in August and we were so glad we got to be there to help him celebrate. Camdyn loves helping with Mya, which is so sweet!

Here is the birthday boy and his adorable mommy! He is such a fun one year old!Here's my big girl in her cute little shoes. They are going to be too small for her soon and she hasn't hardly worn them, so I have to try to get her to wear them as much as I can! Thankfully she puts up with me.
How can you not love that face? I love everything about this little person! She is such a blessing!

Especially when she looks like this! This is actually a normal face for her when she wakes up, but the hair... that is not normal. It was sticking up everywhere!
Can you believe our little baby is nine months old already? She had her well baby check up and is healthy, growing good, and obviously loving life. She's got four teeth now(and always working on more), stands by herself, walks around by holding onto things, loves bobbing back and forth to music, loves tilting her head to the side, loves crawling after her daddy, loves taking baths, and loves smiling! Dan and I are doing well too. Dan is substitute teaching and has had jobs everyday since school started. Mya is going to a babysitter that we absolutely love and who lives just minutes away from my work so I can visit during lunch if I want. And I am really enjoying my work as I continue to get the hang of it. We are getting ready to celebrate my 26th birthday next week and I am so excited. I love birthdays! I'm going to see how long I can make my birthday last this year. Who thinks I can make it last all week? Wish me luck!

Gotta love summer time!

2009-08-15T13:03:00.002-05:00

We have been swimming! Mya loves to swim, so we have been over at Dan's aunt's house taking advantage of her beautiful pool! I didn't get any pictures of Mya in the pool, but here is one before we went. She has such a cute beach body!
Mya really likes to play in her room so whenever I need to get some stuff done upstairs, she gets to play in her room. This day I wanted to see how she would like sitting in her rocking chair, which actually used to be mine when I was little. Of course, she loved it! She was even trying to rock it herself!
Dan took this picture last week! Isn't it just the cutest? She loves to pull herself up on the window and stand there and play! She thinks she's so big.
I just love these next two pictures! Mya pulls out her cheesy smile whenever she's super happy, which she obviously is here!
And here's Mya and Daddy eating Mya's favorite food... cheerios! I wish you could see all of the dress she's wearing. It's such a cute dress that Aunt Sarah got for Mya. And cousin Camdyn has a matching one. I'll have to take a picture of them wearing it at the same time.
So we have really just been enjoying the warm weather, swimming, grilling, hanging out with family, and spending time with friends. Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer and doing things they love!

My two loves

2009-07-28T21:17:00.002-05:00

Mya loves to play with her daddy.

*Keep reading. There's also a new post below.*

All I can say is...

2009-07-28T19:47:00.007-05:00

Wow! My little family has been in Topeka for almost three weeks now! It has been so much fun to be closer to family and friends, but I feel like we have just been on the go constantly since we moved. I can't wait for things to slow down a little bit. Here is just a snapshot of what we have been doing with our time. I'll start with how Dan and I celebrated out fourth anniversary.
Dan took me to Kansas City for a night. It was our first night away from Mya, it was hard but it was very nice. We stayed in Overland Park and then went to a town called Parkville. It was such a cute little place. There was this huge "castle" in the hills that I just loved.
Dan took me to a wine tasting, which was so cute. I have been telling him for the last, um, five years that I wanted to do a wine tasting. He doesn't even like wine, but took me anyway. What a thoughtful guy. We had to snap a picture by the Missouri river. It was such a nice day!

Gotta love girl time! My friends: Cassie and baby Ethan, Laurel, Lindsey and baby #2 inside, and of course, me and Mya! I just love those girls so much! It's amazing how we can just feel so comfortable with each other when we don't get to see each other very often.

And here's my sweet girl eating at the table like a big girl! Guess what she's eating? Pancakes!! I gotta start her early eating pancakes because that's one of her mommy's favorites! She ate hers plain, but when she gets big she can have pancakes with peanut butter and syrup. Yum.

Now I just have to show you my happy clothed baby in her car seat. The reason I point out that she's clothed is because of the next picture down below.

Here's my naked girl in her car seat. Here's the totally embarrassing story. We were eating at a restaurant with some friends and friend's parents. Everything was going well enough. Mya was a little fussy but that's because she hadn't gotten her morning nap. That's not unusual. When I went to get her out of her high chair to play with her a little, I spotted it...poop. All over my child's leg and now on my arm. Nice. So I take her to the bathroom to clean her up and only have two wipes. Even nicer. And no change of clothes for her. Great. She's crying because she has strangely developed a hatred for commercial changing tables and people are coming in and out of the bathroom staring. I did manage to get Mya cleaned up and wipe the poop off my arm and shirt. Yes, it was on my shirt too. Here's the best part: as we're getting ready to leave, Dan tells me that not only had Mya got poop all over her and me, but the waitress had to clean up a pile of poop off the floor. That's how it was described to me...a pile of poop. Yuck. Then we walked out of the restaurant with our naked child. So there she is. Asleep and naked. But isn't she just so cute?

I promise to update soon...

2009-07-19T20:58:00.002-05:00

Dan, Mya, and I have been in Topeka for over a week now and are still settling in. We are loving being closer to our families! There has been so much going on that I haven't had time to do much of anything. But I promise that when things settle down, I will tell you all about our move, our new home, my new job, and of course, I'll post pictures of everything! Until then...

Our Firecracker

2009-07-07T21:03:00.002-05:00

Mya celebrated her first Independence Day. She stayed up late, played with friends, said the Pledge of Allegiance, sang The Star Spangled Banner, watched fireworks, and enjoyed her freedom! At least until 10:45 when mom and dad said it was time for her to go to bed, which she did very easily... she was so tired after such a long night! I was so worried how she would do staying up so late and being around such loud noises, but she was great. Dan and I were so proud!Here she is watching her first fireworks with Daddy. He was even nice enough to cover he ears.

Mya loves her friend Kaitlyn. They had such a good time hanging out together before the fireworks started. She is going to miss Kaitlyn so much when we move!
And just a couple of photos of Mya Jae in her fourth of July gear. So cute, right?
Another one of my precious girl. Such a sweet face!
And this picture was taken today but is my new favorite! She was eating her whale squeeze toy she plays with in the bath. Can we say teething? Will it ever end?

8 x 8 plus mini update

2009-06-18T14:55:00.007-05:00

So I was tagged not once, but twice to do this eight by eight thing a while ago, but because life is always crazy, I am just now getting to it. And because I am lazy, I am only doing it once! So Anne and Haley, this is for both of you!

EIGHT Things I Am Looking Forward to:

1. Moving closer to family

2. Having more kids... or at least one more, we'll see

3. Staying home with kids full time

4. Going on a vacation with Dan someday (even just a night out would be nice at this point)

5. Owning a home

6. Living a debt free life, including student loans and a mortgage(which is weird since we don't even have one yet)

7. Buying a bigger vehicle

8. It kind of goes along with number one, but getting to see my nieces and nephews way more often

EIGHT Things I Did Yesterday (Warning: my life is kind of boring)

1. Played with Mya

2. Went to work

3. Sent a friend a birthday gift

4. Scheduled a hair appointment

5. Ate some Swedish Fish

6. Watched wipeout

7. Went on a walk

8. Caught up with a high school friend

EIGHT Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. Sing because I love to sing, I just don't have any real ability

2. Own a zoo because I love animals

3. Get on a plane or be in any small space and not freak out from claustrophobia

4. Get paid for being home with Mya :)

5. Own a cool cafe that would be a teen hang out at night

6. Get my hair cut and get a pedicure once a month

7. See old friends from high school all the time, not just once every few months

8. Run everyday... yeah right!

EIGHT Shows I Watch:

1. Jon and Kate Plus Eight, although I wish they would stop doing more seasons for the sake of their family

2. Lost

3. My Boys

4. Bachelor/Bachelorette

5. Wipeout

6. Grey's Anatomy

7. Friends

8. The Soup

EIGHT Places I’d Like to Travel to:

1. All 50 states and that's really about it because I can't stand the thought of flying overseas. BUT, if flying for 18 hours didn't scare the poop out of me, here are the other seven places I would like to go.

2. India

3. Rome

4. Spain

5. Japan

6. Ireland

7. Brazil

8. Australia

EIGHT Places I’ve Lived:

1. Clay Center, KS

2. Abilene, KS

3. Manhattan, KS

4. different part of New Jersey

5. Phillipsburg, KS

6. soon to be Topeka

7. who knows

8. who knows

EIGHT(ok, I only have five, who cares) Others that I want to do this 8 x 8 thing:

1. Sarah

2. Tiffany

3. Mom

4. Tracy

5. Laurel

And a mini update for those of you who care... which better be all of you! Dan and I are officially moving to Topeka in the next couple of weeks. We are so excited to be closer to family and friends! Mya is excited to be close to her cousins in Manhattan and Topeka! So my blog updates will probably be few and far between for a while with life being so crazy right now. But I'll do my best to update as often as possible! Oh, and I have tons of new pictures but no time to put them up right now, so I promise the next update will have some!

Just a few favorites

2009-06-10T13:39:00.004-05:00

Mya was dedicated at church this last Sunday. It was nothing too fancy, but it was so nice to have her prayed for and dedicated to the Lord at her very first church home. Everyone there loves her so much and is so sad to see us, mostly her, move away.

Here she is in her pretty dress she wore to church. My mom bought it for her for Easter but we already had a dress and it was too big for her anyway, but it worked perfectly for this occasion.

And of course, I just have a few candid shots. Isn't this just such a precious face?

And how about those eyes? My goodness!

And our hilarious girl started screaming this week...for fun! I bet you can imagine how great it is to hear over and over and over. It really sounds like she's throwing a fit, but she's just making noise. I can't say that it's really cute or anything, but it's funny, and it's great to watch her discover new things every week! That's all about Mya for now, although I could always go on and on and on.

In other news, our family is headed out for a long weekend on Friday. I am going to spend Friday and Saturday with my family and Dan is headed to T-town to play in a golf tournament with his dad and brother on Friday. Mya and I will meet back up with Dan and his parents Saturday night and spend Sunday relaxing and visiting family and friends and then... I have an interview on Monday in Topeka. Hopefully it goes well so we can get moving because being far away from my family is really driving me crazy. It was my sister's birthday yesterday and I just hated that I couldn't spend it with her. Next year I will spend it with her for sure!

We're Still Here

2009-06-04T19:53:00.004-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've updated, but we are still here! I have so many pictures from the last couple of weeks, so I'm just going to let you take a peek at them and I'll give a few details about each photo. So here they are!Dan's family came to visit over Memorial Weekend and we had such a great time with them! Above is Matt, Sarah, Camdyn, Silas, and me, Dan, and Mya! It's the best you can get when you have three wiggly little ones!

I was taking pictures of Mya the other day(big surprise, right?) and I just thought she looked so cute in this picture. She loves the camera and I'm pretty sure she was trying to get it in this picture!
Dan, kissing his baby, and Mya looking like she wants to get away! Dan thinks this picture is funny!
Beautiful cousins! Mya loved having Camdyn and Silas around for the weekend. And they got along great. Camdyn wanted to hold Mya and she did such a good job, sitting so still, and keeping her on her lap. It was absolutely adorable!
I love this picture of me and my sweets! I love playing with her!
Another great picture of Grandma, Camdyn and Mya. So cute!
Mya hangs out in the hallway in the morning while I get ready for work. She was sitting so cute and she was wearing the outfit her Grandma Barnes had gotten her, so I had to tae a picture. I know you can't read it, but her shirt says "Going Green" under the turtle. Adorable!

Another favorite pic! It's so hard to get what we call a "sweet" smile out of Mya, but this is definitely one of them. She actually has her tongue in her mouth, can you believe it?
And here's Mya, just lounging! She fell over and just stayed like that. She is too funny!

The last picture is amazingly not of Mya, but of my hubby. He had the opportunity to coach the freshmen boys at a tournament in Nebraska. It was a long couple of days of what seemed like never ending games, but they had a great time. They only won one game, but the competition was pretty tough. Anyway, it was a great way to end his coaching experience in Phillipsburg. It was a pretty good weekend. Mya was good and I got to go shopping for a little bit, which was some much needed retail therapy! Well, that's all for now and I'll try not to go so long between updates next time!

Funny Face

2009-05-23T11:26:00.003-05:00

Our daughter is so funny! That's all I need to say. Enjoy!
And there's another post below, so keep reading!

6 months!

2009-05-23T07:47:00.006-05:00

Well, our sweet baby officially turned 6 months old this last Wednesday! We sang Happy Half Birthday to her in the morning and let the whole day be all about her... wait, every day is all about her! Anyway, she all of a sudden seemed so big to me on that day. To continue celebrating Mya's half birthday, I'm going to steal an idea from a new blog friend and record her accomplishments here as well as all the little things about her that capture our hearts on a daily basis. Mya Jae, here are some amazing things about you at just 6 months:

~You have cut one tooth already and are working on your second one as I type. You don't seem to be bothered by them at all.
~You love to make farting noises constantly... and amazingly, your dad and I are so proud!
Your favorite food right now is oatmeal and bananas. But you like almost anything at this point, except carrots and pears. Yuck!
~You love to smile constantly! However, you reserve your laughter for only ridiculously funny things... which changes daily!
~You still absolutely love your bath time. You have discovered how much fun is it to gather your bath toys in your arms. You are so gentle in doing this; it is completely different than the way you splash around.
~8:00 is your bed time and you go to bed every night so easily! And sleep all night through!
~You had been waking up at 5:45 every morning for the last month, but since you turned 6 months you have slept until 6:30 or 7:00 every morning. Will this be a new trend? Your dad and I hope so!
~You love to go on walks and be outside. You love to watch the birds and look at the trees. You're so much like your mom in that way!
~Basketball is your favorite sport to watch on t.v. right now. But you really love just about anything on ESPN. You are so much like your dad in that way!
~Daddy and I love the way you smell, dirty or clean! We can't even describe how you smell... it's just wonderful!
~You have the most gorgeous blue eyes. People we don't even know are always commenting on your beautiful eyes. Two people in the last week told me you were the most beautiful baby they've ever seen. I agree!
~You hate to have your shirt changed because you don't like your arms to be pulled on. That hasn't changed since you were a tiny baby. Hopefully, you'll grow out of that soon!
~You love to stand all the time. Does this mean you will skip crawling and go straight for walking? You seem to show no interest whatsoever in crawling at this point.
~You've always liked loud noises, and vacuuming is no different. For some reason, you love it when I vacuum. Don't worry, I'll teach you how when you get old enough!
~Lastly, the best time of the day is in the morning, no matter how early it is, because you smile so big and are so happy! You are definitely a morning person. And although your dad and I are not, we cherish everyday when we bring you into our bed in the morning and all three cuddle together!

Mya, you are the love of our lives! You have successfully turned your dad into a man wrapped around a tiny finger willing to do anything for his daughter! And you have turned your mom into a blubbering woman who cries just thinnking about you! We are so excited to see how much you change in the next 6 months! Happy half birthday my sweets!

Here is our sweet happy girl!

And here is her first tooth! And you can tell she's getting her second one!

May is for...

2009-05-16T16:35:00.006-05:00

Laughter! I know this video is a little long and the noise I'm making in it is ridiculous, but it's the only way I could get her to laugh... so just tune me out and listen to her!

May is also for hanging out with daddy! Well, every day of every month is good for that!

And May is for getting a first tooth! Today, Mya has her first tooth! I will post a picture of it when I can get one. It's so hard to get a picture of a baby's mouth when she wants to chew on everything that even comes close to her mouth!And of course, May is great for playing at the park! Mya had her first experience with the swings today. She is obviously still a little small, but she still enjoyed it. She just sat like this forever in a trance. It was pretty cute!

I have another video of Mya making funny faces, so I'll post that later. She has her 6 month check up next week and we're excited to see how much she has grown.

In other news, Dan gets done with school this coming thursday. He is pretty excited to be a stay at home dad for the summer. And we are both still looking for jobs so that we can move closer to our families, so just be praying that those will come along soon. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I know we are. And tomorrow, I'm going to get a pedicure for the first time since I was pregnant. Yeah!

So much going on

2009-05-11T21:24:00.003-05:00

I feel like it's been forever since I updated, but we have been so busy and so tired lately. Here is a small update for starters. I have several videos and tons of photos, but this will have to do for now.Our sweet girl is obviously a K-State fan! We were just hanging out at home this night and I just had to see how Mya looked sporting the powercat... never any doubt that she would look adorable!

Last week, it was so nice and hot one day so we stripped our little drooly girl to her diaper and headed outside. She was so happy and loved the feel of the grass on her toes. She couldn't sleep that night... because she kept smiling so much in her crib!

Just another cute pic of me and Mya playing outside. So cute!

Then Mya and I headed to Manhattan this last weekend to celebrate my adorable nephew's first birthday. He was such a good birthday boy! He is so cute!
Everybody was exhausted after the weekend was over. Mya especially. My mom was singing to her and she just closed her eyes and fell asleep. So cute! Dan and I both think she looks so big in his picture! She is coming up quickly on 6 months old. It's so fun to watch her grow and change and figure things out. I'll give more of an update on her later though...

Mya's Workout

2009-05-02T18:12:00.005-05:00

If only I could burn as many calories in 30 seconds as she does!

I can't figure out how to rotate the video, so you'll just have to view it sideways! Enjoy anyway!

Sunshine on my shoulder

2009-04-26T21:05:00.003-05:00

This weekend has been pretty good. Mya and I went around to different garage sales with my friend Krystal on Saturday. We got lots of good stuff. I sometimes forget how much I like to go to garage sales. My mom and I used to go all the time when I was younger and I didn't always like it then but grew to love it. Thanks mom for teaching me to be thrifty! Anyway, here is our little Mya sitting up all by herself... crazy! She isn't real steady yet, but she's getting better with every time she does it. The little piano is one of my great 50 cent finds at a garage sale. And yes, Mya is going to be a brilliant pianist!

And here is the reason for the title of my post! Here is my little sunshine on my shoulder!

Mya is seriously the happiest baby ever when she gets up from nap. I told Dan today that if anyone is ever in a bad mood, they should just come over to our house to watch Mya wake up from her nap. She will make you smile... guaranteed!

This picture above is my new favorite thing she does. She opens her arms up wide and then hugs my face/head/neck/whatever part of me she can get. It is priceless!

Here's me and my sweet girl. A few people have told me lately that they see so much of Dan in Mya, but there is definitely some of me in there!

The Many Faces of Mya

2009-04-24T19:53:00.007-05:00

Yes, we do have the cutest baby ever! Can you believe we get to kiss those adorable cheeks every day? We are so blessed!

Getting back to "normal"

2009-04-21T20:39:00.005-05:00

Dan and I left for Topeka Friday night and stayed through Monday and we had such a great time. Dan had an interview Monday and it went well. Now we just have to wait and see if they want to hire him. This is always the worst part. Anyway, here are some pics from the weekend. Here's Mya with her wonderful Aunt Sarah. This was taken after Mya pooped all over her outfit at the restaurant we were eating at. But, don't worry, she's clean and changed in this picture. Not even I would hold her that close if she was still all poo covered!

Dan and I got to see our good friends Scott and Nikki. We loved getting to see them and catch up with them. Mya loved it too!

I love this picture! Mya and Silas are going to be so close, I can just tell! Aren't they just the most adorable kids you've ever seen?

Silas is such a sweet boy. He is so happy and just so much fun. He was just playing on the floor chewing on this string and I just had to take his picture.

This is a close up of something Mya loves to do... lay against her dad while watching t.v. Isn't that crazy? Do any of you know of a five month old who likes to watch sports? Ours does. She will only watch sports, nothing else. She watches SportsCenter and basketball with Dan, but when I want her to watch Friends with me... no way. Oh well.

So now we're home, trying to get back to our normal routine. Mya had her measurements taken today since she was officially five months old yesterday. She looks normal to me and Dan, but according to her measurements she is in the 25th percentile for both height and weight. This is ironic since over the weekend, one of Sarah's friends said she looked little and guessed that she was in the 25th percentile for height and weight. We laughed and said no way, but she was right! Crazy. Anyway, Mya has her first cold and is trying to get over that. Poor thing can't hardly breathe right now, but she's doing ok. She went to bed at 7:15 tonight because she was not feeling well and was just so exhausted. I know most of you don't really need details on most of this stuff, but I just felt like sharing. Maybe some of you can share with me what we can do for Mya's congestion? Any tricks to help it go away faster? Ok, thanks for "listening." Have a great week!

Faces and Places I LOVE!

2009-04-14T21:14:00.004-05:00

What a fabulous Easter weekend! It was so great to celebrate things that matter with people that matter! We jammed a lot of things into a little weekend, but it was great! Here we are fishing! I'm not sure when my dad and I started fishing, but we have really gotten into it in the last few years or so. This was Jordan's first time fishing with us and, of course, it was Mya's first time too. Unfortunately, we didn't catch any fish, but we still had fun! What a cute picture! Minus the red eyes, it is just adorable!

Dying eggs is always entertaining with Dan! He created Mr. Egghead... he's so clever!

Enjoying bath time in the sink at my parent's house! She was in heaven!

Easter family photo! Mya wouldn't smile, but it doesn't matter when you're as cute as she is!

Love this girl! Love this picture!

Mima and Papa and happy girl!

Celebrating Easter at my grandma's house was pretty fun. It was the first year for it because we usually go to my great aunt's house. My Uncle Pat was enjoying holding the babies! I can't believe my nephew Dorian is about to celebrate his first birthday in a month!

Sweet girl!

Bath Time Fun

2009-04-04T16:15:00.006-05:00

So here is a video of Mya in the bath. I know I've said before how much fun Mya has in the bath, and finally we have the proof! She has recently learned how to splash and it is so much fun! It's kind of a long video, but it's just so cute. I also posted a few random, but oh-so-adorable pictures from this last week. Enjoy!

Finally the weekend

2009-03-28T13:19:00.004-05:00

This last week has been so busy and we are so glad it's finally the weekend. Last weekend, Dan played basketball in Hastings, NE and we had a great time. Dan played really good and it was so fun to watcd him. Mya really enjoyed it and so did I! Here we are in the Walmart parking lot. Mya was tired of sitting in her carseat. She wanted to drive home instead, but Daddy said no. The next night, Dan's parents came to visit and we had such a great time with them. I didn't take any pictures but this one, and it was taken while Mya was napping. I'll do better next time. Every night we read to Mya and it calms her down and helps her get ready for bed. Here Dan's reading to her and instead of looking at the pictures, she was looking at him. It was so adorable.

Mya also likes sitting on the couch like a big girl. Dan was also on the computer and Mya was just so interested in the laptop for some reason. It looks like she was leaning in to see what Dan was looking at, but really she was just falling over because she can't sit up straight for very long before she topples to the side.
Mya is seriously such a happy girl these days. She smiles so easily and loves to play. She hasn't been sleeping great at night, but she makes up for it with her happy mood all day long. We just love the stage she's in right now. I just had to inclue this photo of our other baby, who has turned into the most needy cat every since Mya has joined the family. She just always wants attention and wants to be on laps. She's so silly.

Ah, sunshine...

2009-03-19T21:11:00.003-05:00

We have been thoroughly enjoying the warm weather lately. We have been grilling out, going for walks, and just spending as much time outdoors as we can. Dan loves to grill and is a good cook! And I always appreciate any evening when I don't have to cook. Here is my chef grilling us some steaks... yum!

Me and Mya just sat and watched.

Mya has decided lately that she wants to be standing all the time. She doesn't want to sit on your lap, she wants to stand, which is pretty funny.

I had to save these pictures for last because they are my faves. Mya and I went to visit my friend Lindsey and her daughter Cami last Saturday to have a ladies day out. We had lunch together, went shopping, and just enjoyed being around friends. Mya and Cami are best friends; they just don't know it yet. :)

The above pic is of Mya all tuckered out from out trip. But if you look closely, she is smiling!

Dan is on spring break for the rest of this week and Monday. He's also playing basketball in Nebraska tomorrow night and Saturday morning, so we're going to go stay the night there on Friday, which should be fun. And then, Dan's parents are coming to visit, and we're excited about that. I have no idea what we'll be doing, but it should be fun because there's rarely a dull moment in P-burg...

It's official

2009-03-13T09:48:00.003-05:00

Our little family has finally announced to our little town that we are going to be moving this summer to be closer to family. It hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be and people haven't been mad or shocked like I thought they would be. Some of the kids I work with seem disappointed and wish that we weren't leaving, but that's to be expected. Anyway, just pray that Dan will be able to find a great job closer to our families and pray that I would find a job as well. We'd like to be moved in June some time so that Mya will be able to spend the summer with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!

Yeah for weekends

2009-03-08T18:41:00.010-05:00

This weekend was so much fun because my parents came to visit. We just hung out, watched a movie, celebrated my dad's birthday (which was the 2nd), and found out that I am not good at darts!

Here's me and mom just hanging out. She hates posing for pictures, but I always make her do it!

Mya and Papa having a heart to heart. She used papa's shirt as a spit up rag all weekend... I was just glad it wasn't me!

Here's Mima and Mya enjoying some girl time! Mya is sporting one of her new headbands. She is losing all her hair right now, so we had to buy some cute headbands for her bald little head!

And then here is Dad with his birthday cake, which was a carrot cake that I baked from scratch! If you look carefully, you can see that the candles spell out his name! So creative, right?

Last, but not least, here is my favorite pic from the weekend! Dan and I bought my dad a dartboard for his birthday because my parents are creating a sort of a game room in their basement and I thought it would be fun for him. Anyway, we set it up on our wall to test it out, of course. And here is Dad displaying his beautiful work of art aka his dart on the wall! He wasn't the only one who "darted" the wall... I did it too! Don't tell our landlord! Anyway, that was the weekend and it was wonderful! How was yours?

What a week!

2009-03-02T10:18:00.005-06:00

So I haven't posted for a while because we've been so busy! Dan's wrapping up basketball season... yeah! I'm still working hard, doing a two person job by myself... not yeah. And we went to Topeka this past weekend. That's our last week in a tiny tiny nutshell. Here are some great photos of our last week! Our sweet niece, Camdyn! She's so cute!

We got to hang out with some friends on Saturday before we went to the K-State game. Dan obviously enjoyed himself!
Me and my high shool friend, Amanda, just hanging out!

This is just a cute pic of Mya when we were getting ready to go Daddy's basketball game.

Dan and I never take pictures just of us anymore, so here is a candid shot of us. When it was nice out last week, Mya got to enjoy her stroller. She loves walks and always falls asleep. Daddy and Mya.... so cute! She loves playing with him. She also loves t.v.! This is our sweet child straining her body so that she can see the t.v. Isn't that so bad? I guess it's helping her learn to roll over, right? Don't worry, we shut it off when she starts doing this. :)

And last but not least, here is Coach Barnes, or just "Barnes" according to the kids. He is such a good coach!

So that's all for now. There is so much more I could write about, but I just don't have the time right now. Maybe later this week...

Lip Smack

2009-02-13T14:04:00.004-06:00

Mya has been doing this thing where she pulls her top lip in with her tongue and smacks really loud. It is one of the reasons why I wanted to get a camera that can take videos because it is so cute when she does it. So here is our first video of her doing it. Please try not to get grossed out by the ridiculous amount of spit up on her outfit. She just loves to spit up and outfit changes throughout the day are very normal for us. Anyway, enjoy the video!

New Camera

2009-02-05T20:50:00.004-06:00

Dan and I finally bought a new camera. We're very excited because it can take videos too. So, pretty soon we'll be uploading cute little videos of Mya. And of course, to Dan and I, she's always doing cute things, but to you, it would probably just be a boring video of a baby. So we're waiting to post a video until she does something truly adorable. But believe me, it will be soon. :) Until then, here are some adorable photos.

And I just had to post a picture of Mya in her "love bug" onesie that her Uncle Matt bought her. She looks so great!

In other news, Dan and I have both been very busy with work. Although Dan loves coaching and the varsity team is doing very well this season, he is definitely looking forward to basketball season being over. He has weekend tournaments for the next two weekends and isn't really looking forward to that. But then we're going to our first K-State basketball game of the year the 28th of February and we're getting really excited about that. Ok, that's all that's been going on. We're so boring right now.

Super cute

2009-02-02T11:24:00.003-06:00

So Dan and Mya and I went to visit my parents this weekend and to get family photos with my parents done. It was so much fun. I really don't have much to write about, but here are some super cute photos. My mom and dad are so good at getting Mya to smile.

First smile... pretty good.

Second smile... getting better.
Third smile... she just can't contain it any more!

And this is just to show how big our little girl is getting. Plus, this is one of my favorite outfits on her. She just looks so comfy and cute!

Just another day in paradise

2009-01-24T10:57:00.003-06:00

I've been thinking I should probably talk about something other than Mya at some point on this blog, but she's kind of the only exciting thing going on in our lives right now. And probably will be for quite some time. Anyway, this week was my second week back to work and it was not as good as the first one, mostly because I really just didn't want to work. Mya is still doing wonderfully, I just didn't want to do anything. Hopefully next week will be better. Anyway, here are some picture of me and Mya when we weren't working.

Mya on her playmat. She loves that thing and is always smiling when she's laying there.

Tummy time! This is the first time that Mya was really lifting her head up high. This picture isn't the best, but she was really doing good! This is a better picture of her lifting her head, even though she was starting to get fussy. She's getting so strong!

And me and my baby posing for the camera. Mya thought I told her to make her serious model face... isn't it so cute?

Also, Mya had her two month check up and is now 11 lbs 5 oz and is 22.25 inches long. She is such a healthy girl!

What weekends are for

2009-01-18T20:57:00.005-06:00

Weekends are the best, especially when they are spent with either my parents or Dan's. This weekend happened to be graced by a visit by Dan's parents. It was fabulous! Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Actually, I don't know if this first picture is from this weekend or not, but it's so cute. Mya loves her bath time. She actually cries when we take her out of the bath because she is having such a good time in it. She just stares at us and smiles while we're cleaning her. She is a happy girl in the bath and we're glad.

This is my favorite face that Mya makes. It is her stretching face. Whenever we take her out of her swing, this is the face she makes. I love it! Here is Mya and Grandma. She had a great time being loved and cuddled by Grandma. And Grandma loved cuddling her, but not as much when Mya would spit up all over her, which she did frequently. Mya is a "happy spitter" apparently.

This is a Christmas present that Mya got from her Uncle Matt and Aunt Sarah. She loves the puppy in the middle because it moves up and down and she is mesmerized by it. Unfortunately, it only moves if the song is on... thanks Matt and Sarah. We'll sing you the song over and over and over next time we see you. :) Another favorite present has been her swing. Anyone who knows Mya knows that she loves to be on the move. She always wants to be walked around, swung from side to side, and bounced all over. So the swing has quickly become her favorite napping place. In fact, sometimes she'll cry until you put her in the swing so that she can take a nap. Here she is trying to wake up from a nap and not doing a very good job.

Last but not least, Mya with Grandma and Papa. She loved seeing them this weekend and so did we. In two weeks we'll visit my parents and we are excited for that as well.

On a more serious note, Dan and I found out this morning at church that one of his students and a member of the basketball team was killed in a car wreck yesterday. It has been very difficult for us to digest and seeing as we live in such a small town, it will be a difficult time for the whole community as well, especially the younth. We are praying that the Lord would use this tragedy to reach the lost and to strengthen believers. We are also praying for comfort and peace for his family. We would love it if you would pray the same.

Back to Work

2009-01-13T11:27:00.002-06:00

Well, I officially started back to work yesterday and it went pretty well. Mya did great at the office in the morning and then she went to our neighbor's house for the afternoon for the first time. I was worried that she would be fussy the whole three hours she was there and that my neighbor wouldn't want to watch her anymore... but I was worried for no reason. She did great! She was happy the whole time! Mya has also been sleeping better at night, which is great. She has been sleeping anywhere from 6 to 8 hours straight. And she's been taking good naps in the afternoon. Things are just moving right along. Being back to work isn't exactly all that fun, but it's nice to know that Mya can handle being away from me for the afternoons.

Anyway, Dan had a C team boys basketball tournament this past weekend and they placed 2nd! Mya and I went to watch(she loves watching basketball) and it is just so fun to watch Dan coach. You can tell he's much more comfortable this year and the boys really enjoy having him for a coach. Dan's parents are coming to visit this weekend and we'll be watching Coach Barnes on Friday night. It should be tons of fun! I don't really have any recent pictures, but here is a cute one. Notice her Michael Jordan hat. It's so cute! I'll post more after the weekend!

New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-02T20:49:00.004-06:00

The Barnes Family Resolutions for 2009

3. Cry less (Mya didn't agree with this one)

2. Sleep more (This was Courtney's #1)

1. Smile more (This one was unanimous)

Happy New Year!

All I wanted for Christmas...

2008-12-30T20:28:00.006-06:00

was to spend time with family... and that is what we did! We had an amazing time this Christmas! Mya did pretty well for her first Christmas, especially with all the traveling and such that we did. She loved seeing all the extended family for the first time. We took so many pictures, but here are the ones that made the cut! Mya and Uncle Steve at Grandma's house. We don't get to see them very often because they live in Chicago. It's always nice to get to spend time with them and their beautiful kids.

My Grandma "Longhair" and my sister. So cute!

My Uncle Jeff and my adorable cousin Matthew. We just love seeing Jeff and Stephanie and their boys.

This is Dan playing wii boxing with my cousin. He was not very good. I guess I probably shouldn't say that he was getting beat by a ten year old... oops, I just did!

It was great to get to see friends this Christmas too. This is Lindsey, Laurel, Cassie, and me. We don't get to see each other often and now that three of the four of us have kids, it will be even harder!

More friends! I'm so blessed to have such great friends from high school that I can still keep in touch with. Here I am with Anna, Morgan, and Anna. I love these girls so much!

Mya slept through most of Christmas morning and Mima was letting her do it! Don't they look so cute!

Here are the cousins on my side. Mya, Jordan, and Dorian. My sister bought Dorian and Mya matching outfits that looked so cute. It was Dorian and Mya's first Christmas!

I love this picture of Papa with his baby grandkids. Dorian was just staring up at him so intently. He's a good Papa!

Terry was insisting that there be pictures taken of him with his grandkids because he thinks there aren't enough taken, but I have to say that I don't have any of Debi with Mya, but I have three of him! So here's one of Mya with her Papa!

We had fun spending time with Matt, Sarah, and our niece and nephew. Here's an adorable picture of them, minus Silas. I'm sure Grandma or Papa was holding him!

Last, but not least, here's our adorable Santa! She was so calm and pretty in every picture I took of her in this Santa suit. My sister got her this and Dorian had a matching one. So cute! We had an amazing Christmas with family, friends, and most importantly, celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Dan and I are so blessed and we most definitely felt it this Christmas season.

Ready for Christmas!

2008-12-08T16:47:00.003-06:00

This weekend was a lot of fun because Dan's parents and his brother came to visit. We didn't do anything exciting, but it was nice to just hang out and spend some time together. Plus, it was nice to have some help with Mya. She is a good baby, but she can be kind of fussy, so it's nice to have extra people to hand her off to when she is extra fussy.
Friday night was Dan's first basketball game and I was very curious to see how Mya would do. She did great and even slept through Dan's game and the JV game. She didn't even flinch when the buzzer would go off. Then she slept for five and half hours straight that night, which was so nice for us! Then Sunday, we put up our Christmas tree, which is always fun. I already started wrapping presents! Anyway, here are some pictures from the weekend. I have to apologize to Uncle Matt because we didn't get any with him while he was here. But we'll get lots at Christmas to make up for it.

The tree isn't decorated in this picture, but it still looks cute!

Grandma and Papa with Mya.

Mya loved having her grandparents here and so did we! We were sad yo see them go. But we'll see both of our families again soon for Christmas, which we are so excited for!

Mya's best friend

2008-12-04T16:04:00.003-06:00

Mya and I had a fun day today because my best friend Lindsey and her baby, Cami, came to visit. I was so excited to see Lindsey and for Mya to meet her best friend. They did so well and let Lindsey and I have a nice afternoon together. Also, Mya had her two week check up at the doctor's office this morning and we were very pleased to find out she is growing very well. She is now 8 lbs. 10 oz. which is almost a full pound up from when she was born. And she is now 20 3/4 inches long. The doctor was very pleased with how she is doing. Yeah! Mya slept through most of Lindsey and Cami's visit, but that's ok with me.

Isn't she just so cute?

Here's Cami and Mya in their carseats and sleeping of course.
And here is Cami smiling in her sleep. So cute!

Tomorrow, Dan's parents and brother are coming to visit. I am so excited about that. We are all going to Dan's first basketball of the season, which is always exciting. I'll let you know how his C team boys do. Hopefully, they will start the season off with a win!

I love Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T17:56:00.003-06:00

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, mostly because I love spending time with family and having great food, plus there's no stress of gift-giving like there is at Christmas time. Anyway, this year, due to having a baby a week ago, we didn't go anywhere for Thanksgiving. I was a little sad at first, but my parents came to spend it with us at our house and it was absolutely wonderful! They made way too much food for us, but it was delicious and we have tons of leftovers! Here are some great pictures of our Thanksgiving.

Family photo!

I love this picture of my mom and Mya. If you know my mom at all, you know she doesn't like posed picture, so this is a rare shot. It's great!
Papa giving Mya kisses! He's so funny!

Dan and Mya taking a quick nap. So cute!

Mya's begun her modeling career. My mom bought her the most adorable outfits and this is one of them. It's so cute, even though it's still a little big. She's going to wear one of the other ones to her first Sunday at church.

Just a couple more pics

2008-11-26T13:58:00.003-06:00

Mya is sleeping right now and although I should probably be sleeping as well, I decided to post a couple more pictures. But first here's a quick update: Mya is doing her best to be nice to her mommy and daddy. She sleeps about three hours at a time during the night and doesn't usually scream unless she's really hungry. She started smiling yesterday, mostly due to gas, but Dan and I love it anyway. Overall, she's doing very well. Tomorrow is Mya's first Thanksgiving and we're excited to share it with her Mima and Papa Russell. I'm sure we'll have some cute pics from that. We hope you all have a great day of thanks and enjoy time with your own families! Grandma and her two girls! Cute, huh?

Mya loves football season already! Touchdown!

This has been an everyday occurence since she got home. She sleeps while we're trying to burp her and it makes it very hard to wake her up because she's so cute!

Welcome to the world!

2008-11-22T19:53:00.004-06:00

Our little one has finally arrived! Mya Jae Barnes was welcomed to the world on November 20th at 5:22 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and measured 19 inches long. She is just gorgeous and perfect in every way, but of course, Dan and I are a little biased! So here are some pictures of our beautiful daughter. Enjoy and I'll update more later!

Here is Mya's room all finished and ready for her!One of many delivery room pictures! Daddy and his little girl.

Mya's first car ride. She slept the whole way... like a baby!Mommy and Mya relaxing at home.

There WILL be a baby!

2008-11-13T20:32:00.002-06:00

No one can be pregnant forever, that's what I keep telling myself. And sure enough, there is an end in sight! My most recent update is that things are progressing and it looks like baby is getting ready to come out and join the world. However, if she decides she doesn't want to come as soon as we think, my doctor's going to help her come out by next Thursday. So no matter what, we will have a baby by next Thursday! Yeah! I'll update again soon... with pictures of our new baby!

Update

2008-11-05T09:33:00.003-06:00

Dan and I are anxiously waiting for Baby Barnes to make her debut. We have 11 days until her due date, if that even means anything to her. The baby's room is done, the car seat is in, all the clothes are washed, etc. etc. Now we just need a baby. Dan is ready for her to come too. He keeps telling her that she can come out anytime she wants, but she's not listening. Anyway, we really don't have much else going on right now. Here are a couple of pictures of the baby's room and a picture of me at 38 weeks.

The circles are peel and stick and they are the most amazing invention ever. I was just in there this last weekend and I didn't like the way one of the walls looked, so I peeled off the circles and rearranged them. Cool, huh?

This is the wall where her name is going to be spelled out. We should be getting those any day now and I'm excited to put them up!
This picture was taken after my doctor told me that the baby had dropped. I couldn't really tell before, but from this picture, it does kind of look like it. And when you have strangers telling you that they think the baby has dropped, I guess it's official. :) We can't wait for the baby to come and to be able to celebrate with all our family and friends!

Best Friends and Babies

2008-10-26T20:42:00.005-05:00

Things have been very mellow around here, which is very good. We are enjoying our last three weeks as husband and wife, before we become mom and dad! It's hard to believe there are only three weeks left. However, I've been known to say that if this baby takes after her father, she'll be fashionably late! Anyway, the first two pics are to capture me, Dan, and the baby at 37 weeks!

The next couple of pictures are of Camryn JoAnn, my best friend's newborn baby girl! She was born on October 16 and has been enjoying spending time with her loving parents ever since. She is a little tiny thing at 6 lbs. 4 oz. and 19.25 inches long! Her and Baby Barnes are going to be best friends just like their mommies! And that's about it for us in P-burg! Hopefully there will be a new birthday coming up just around the corner for Baby Barnes #1! Don't worry, that's not going to be her official name... or will it? :)

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!

2008-10-15T19:39:00.017-05:00

I have so many pictures because so much has been happening lately. Here is an idea of what our life has been like lately. The picture down below and to the left is of me and my Little Sister

through Big Brothers Big Sisters. We decided to do "glamour shots" today since it was my last day to see her before the baby comes. We had a blast! The other picture is of Dan and our baby Coda(who will soon be replaced by a real baby). She just loves sleeping on Dan... especially while he is sleeping! The picture down below is of me and my good friend Anne. I absolutely love this girl! She came to Topeka this past weekend to visit me and I was so happy. She gave the baby the cutest little sea horse and gave me a little mermaid/sea horse bag to use for whatever goodies I so choose. It's the perfect addition to the diaper bag. And the stuffed sea horse looks so cute in the baby's crib. I'll post pictures of that later. And then there's me and Nikki! We're so silly as you can tell by our picture together. I just love this picture of us! It was great to see friends this weekend and just hang out. It was exactly what I needed.

These pictures are of my sweet niece and nephew. We love getting to see them, but wish it could happen more often. Silas is getting so big and he's only two months old! Camdyn, on the other hand, is so tiny at two years old, but adorably cute! She was very close with Dan this past weekend, which is just so cute to watch. She wanted Uncle Dan to help her with things and to hold her. So cute! This past weekend was my baby shower that my sister in law threw for me. It was so much fun and we got so many cute things for the baby. And of course, there was delicious food. She and my mother in law made fruit pizza, which was my one request. Yum! I loved it!

These last pictures are of spirit week at the high school this past week. Dan dressed up only one day, but I'd say he did a pretty good job. Him and another coach were twins that day and were trying to look as goofy as possible. I'd say they succeeded, wouldn't you? Then the picture above is of Dan dancing with the Pacers, which is the high school dance team. Other coaches danced too, but Dan did the best, by far! The last picture won't make Dan very happy if he knows that I posted it, but it makes me laugh every time I look at it! He was wearing the same wig he wore earlier in the week. The picture is of him tossing his hair behind his shoulder in the middle of the dance. He looks a little feminine if you ask me. And that's putting it nicely!

We've had a fun last week and this week has been pretty low key, which has been nice. We're still getting the baby's room ready, but once it's mostly done, I will definitely post pictures. I can't believe how fast 35, almost 36 weeks has gone!

Wow, what a weekend

2008-10-01T20:38:00.009-05:00

So this last weekend was my first baby shower and it was amazing! My sister threw it for me and she did such a wonderful job. The picture above is me with not one, but two cakes! They were both autumn themed cakes, which was the theme of the shower. One had pumpkins and baby footprints and the other had leaves and baby toys. So cute and delicious too!

My grandma made me the most beautiful blanket and I just know that the baby will love it.
A bunch of friends that I hadn't seen in such a long time were able to make it to the shower. The above picture is me with Katie, my former boss at Job Corps, and Melissa, my former co-worker at Job Corps.
After all the shower festivities, my mom, Jordan, my uncle Jeff, and I all played dominoes. Jordan and Jeff caught on quick, but as always, Mom tried to cheat!
My uncle is probably going to kill me for this, but I just had to post this picture. Jeff is my mom's brother and he was able to come to Abilene for the weekend and spend some time with the fam. Although my aunt Stephanie and their two boys couldn't make it, it was still great to catch up with him and see him for a little while.

Finally, here are some pictures of the baby's room. We painted a pale yellow that turned out perfect. And we put up the curtains that Dan picked out. They are pink and white striped and so cute, especially against the yellow walls! Once we get the rest of the room put together, I'll post more pics!

Time flies...

2008-09-17T14:54:00.002-05:00

Well, I have nothing really exciting to report. Dan and I have finally found some time to sort of relax. We did nothing last weekend, which felt really good. This weekend is my big fundraiser for work and I'm praying that it will go off without any problems. I'm a nervous wreck when it comes to that kind of stuff.
Dan and I have had two weeks of Sunday school with middle school and high school boys. You must be wondering what that is like? Well, it is very interesting, to say the very least. We both have enjoyed it so far, but it is just so different for me to work with boys because they do not enjoy the emotional aspect of life near as much as I do. Good thing I don't mind making a fool of myself, right? Dan does a good job with the boys and I realize how much I respect him as a teacher (and a person), dealing with kids every day. I definitely could not do it.
My first baby shower is coming up in a little over a week and I am so excited not just to get cute little presents for my baby, but to see so many people that I have not been able to since we've movd to Phillipsburg. I just love my friends and my family and can't wait to spend even just a few hours with them on the 27th. At that time I will have just 7 weeks until Baby Girl Barnes is due to arrive. And I keep reminding her if she chooses to arrive a week early, we are not opposed to that! Well, that's all for now friends. Next update will have fun pictures from my baby shower.

What we've been up to

2008-09-07T14:22:00.006-05:00

Dan and I have been pretty busy these last couple of weeks. But we've been having a great time with family and friends. My parents came to P-burg this weekend to visit and they helped get the baby's room started. I didn't post pictures of that, because I want to wait until it's all done. But we did get it all cleaned out, got the carpet cleaned, and my dad, my mom, and Dan painted the crib and the changing table a beautiful white. They are so cute!
My parents are so funny. We had such a great time with them and I was sad to see them go this morning. Love you guys!

These couple of pictures are from last weekend at Adam and Lindsey's house. We had a great Labor Day weekend with them, relaxing, laughing, and just hanging out. Their baby girl is due October 10, so we won't get to see each other for a while and when we do, they're going to be a little distracted, as they should be!

Happy 25th birthday to me! Dan and I celebrated my 25th birthday this past week and it was fabulous! It really could not have been a better day. Dan made me a wonderful birthday dinner and then a delicious cake!
Here's my profile at almost 30 weeks! Today, there are 9 weeks and 6 days to go. Can you believe it?

These last pictures are of our 4D ultrasound we had last Thursday. The baby was sort of cooperative, but not entirely. So if you think her eyes look kind of freaky, it's just because she was not in a good position to capture what her eyes look like. She will, of course, look so much cuter in our arms in less than 10 weeks! These are just a couple of the ones that turned out really good.

Although it seems like Dan and I's every thought is consumed with baby baby baby, we are still hoping that everyone reading this is doing well and enjoying the start of September. We would love to hear from all of you!

Family time

2008-08-21T16:50:00.004-05:00

Dan and I have been so busy with different things. Our new nephew, Silas Barnes, has finally entered the world. So we made a quick trip to Topeka to introduce ourselves to him. School started for Dan and I'm still working on a fundraiser for work. And all the while, I'm growing a baby, which is tough work. Speaking of baby, we got the bedding for the crib in the mail this week and it is so cute. It's plain green and so so soft. I just know our baby will love it. Next on our list is to buy some furniture. We're slowly getting there. Anyway, here are some pictures of our most recent outings.

Camdyn needed some special attention too! We enjoyed getting to spend some quality time with her.
I just think this picture of Dan and Camdyn is so cute! She was having so much fun with him! She loves to look at pictures, so that's what they were doing together.
And for those of you who are interested, here are some pregnancy pictures. The first one is when I was almost 27 weeks along. And the next we just took today, at almost 28 weeks. So that's that.