Just another day in paradise

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

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

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

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...

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!

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

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!