So we ate pizza a few days ago that had spinach on it. Jace loved it! When I was cleaning him up, I noticed he had a big piece of spinach stuck to his tooth! It was so funny, Trevor and I started laughing hysterically. The more we laughed, the more Jace laughed, which made it even funnier! He is such a silly boy!
This past Saturday our ward had it's Christmas Party....which was not complete without Santa. I was curious of how Jace would react to sitting on his lap since he loves our Santa Christmas decorations (See "I Saw Baby kissing Santa Claus"). He can even say "Danta"! His affection for Santa decorations is not shared with the real Santa though, as you can see from the picture. Brooklyn apparently shares these same feelings... 
On Sunday we had Brooklyn's baby blessing. It was such a wonderful day! Brooklyn looked absolutely beautiful and was an angel all day. Trevor gave her such an amazing blessing. It was nice to share the day with family and friends, but we really missed Trev's side of the family. We may not have gotten the best pictures because we were all anxious to get out of our church clothes as soon as we got home. I'm going to take the kids to get their pictures taken at kiddie kandids this next week, so I'll post those pictures when I get them back. It was a really awesome day though, and I'm so happy to have Brooklyn in our family. It would not be complete without her.
Grandpa and Grandma Barnes with Brooklyn and Jace. This was the best picture I got of the four of them, everyone is looking at the camera, although no one is smiling.
Me with my pretty girl
Brooklyn with her proud Daddy
Brooklyn has such a sweet smile. I was about to change her out of her dress and she started giving me the biggest smile. I had to grab the camera and get a couple more pictures. 
I love her crazy hair. It is actually quite curly when it's wet (and if I put some gel in it) but when it dries...she's a big puff ball!
Jace is a very affectionate boy. He loves to kiss his sister, stuffed animals, his parents (if we're lucky), and now Santa. I was walking around holding Brooklyn and I heard Jace around the corner saying "Aaaahmm" (which is his kissing noise) I poked my head around to see him kissing Santa! It's funny, because whenever he sees Santa decorations he says "Dad!". Didn't think Trevor looked much like Santa, but maybe he does! Jace has loved having the Christmas decorations put up. New things to look at and touch. I've been surprised because he has been very gentle so far with everything. He did break our Mickey and Minnie "Newlywed" Christmas ball and somehow decapitated Mickey. Other than that, everything is still in one piece! It's a full time job watching to make sure he doesn't get in to everything, that's for sure! Ahhh...I love toddler hood :o).
So this last week, Trevor's sister & brother-in-law, and their three girls visted us from Canada. We had such a blast! It was so nice for Trevor to finally have a little time off of work (although he did have school for some of the days) and it was SO nice to see his family! Not only did we have five built in babysitters for the week (that were very eager to see their neice/nephew/cousins I might add) but I had people to shop with, play games with, and not to mention our own personal chef! We had such a Happy Thanksgiving with delicious food and great company. Trev and Jen & Kevin went out on "Black Friday" and shopped like pros. I was impressed when Trevor was back in bed by 8:00 am and said they got most of the things on their lists. WOW! I was kind of sad I didn't get to go (second year in a row we have a small baby at home...) but when the alarm went off at 3:30 am I was certainly happy to stay in bed! The week went by way too fast, and we were so sad to see them go. Especially Jace. He had SO much fun with the girly girls and his uncle and aunt. Today he keeps going down stairs to see where everyone is. The house is sure quiet...and I have forgotten how to juggle the two on my own again. So far we're all still alive...in fact I've lucked out and they're both sleeping for the time being. I spoke too soon, Brooklyn woke up! That always happens! Anyway, we had a great week, here are a few of the pictures Jen took (she's a great photographer).
Here is a picture of Vicky, Chrissy, and Sarah holding their new baby cousin.
We did a lot of fun things while they were here. Here's a pictures of Sarah and Jace going down a slide at the park.
Jace wasn't the only one that was spoiled. The girls loved taking turns holding Brooklyn and were thrilled when they were able to rock her to sleep. This is a pictures of Chrissy holding Brooklyn. She informed me that her favorite songs are "I am a Child of God" and "I Often go Walking". Next is Brooklyn on a beautiful quilt Grammy sent down for her.
Here's Jace & Brooklyn in their Sunday best. Jen got this adorable dress for Brooklyn, and Jace is now fitting into his first suit! Jace was actually really sweet with Brooklyn and kept kissing her and leaning his head on hers. The only problem is, Brooklyn didn't like it too much and started crying. I have found it's much harder to get two kids to look at the camera and smile than one!
Well, I have officially survived the first month of having two babies on my own. (The words "on my own" are used loosely because I've had a LOT of help!) I didn't know how I was going to do it....but somehow we've made it. Brooklyn is already six weeks old! We're all alive...Jace hasn't killed and/or dismembered her yet...and I haven't had any breakdowns. Life is good.
Number two is definitely easier than number one I've decided. I mean, having two is harder than one...but the adjustment of having Brooklyn has been SO much easier than it was with Jace (or so it seems). Recovery was so much faster...nursing so much easier...waking up in the middle of the night not quite as bad. I think having my babies so close has certainly had it's advantages, because I'm already in the baby mode. I'm used to the diapers...the bottles...the holding...the late nights/early mornings... Luckily, Jace is in a really great routine. He goes to sleep at 8:00 pm and sleeps until 8:00-9:00 am (most of the time) and takes a 2-3 hr nap every day. This sure helps because Brooklyn's routine is...well...not quite a routine yet. There are certainly moments every day when I find myself with a baby in each arm or they're both crying and need me at the same time. I've just learned to take a deep breath and take things just a minute at a time. Everything seems to work out, and we all survive. We don't have a choice.
I love this parenting thing and am so blessed with two beautiful healthy babies. I must have done something pretty good somewhere along the line to deserve all that I have.
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
So, this is the first time I've been "tagged" and I'm not quite sure how it works. It seems to be self explanatory, so I guess here goes!
1. I can't stand the feeling of sand between my toes. I know it's supposed to be one of those things that people love, but it drives me nuts! Even worse is wearing flip-flops in the sand. I guess I just must have sensitive feet!
2. I still hum primary songs to myself when I'm scared. Usually this occurs if I have to go to the bathroom at night. I'm super scared of mirrors, especially bathroom mirrors in the dark. Why? Because of stupid scary movies like "The Candy Man" and scary stories like "Bloody Mary". (Yes, I should probably just turn the lights on, but then I'd have to shut the door so I don't wake up Trevor...and then it makes it harder for me to fall back asleep...)
3. I love to read but rarely do, because it encompasses my whole life (take for example Twilight, read three books in one week!). Trevor HATES it when I start a book, because he knows he won't be seeing much of me until it's over...and the house won't see much cleaning from me either. This summer I decided to reread all of the Harry Potter books before the final one was released...it was a rough month or two..
4. I am PETRIFIED of heights. I haven't always been, but it seems like the older I get, the more scary they are. I used to make fun of my dad when I was younger because he was wimp when it came to heights, but now I'm right there with him. And not only do I get freaked out when I'm somewhat close to a ledge, but I can't stand watching other people get close either.
5. I'm an exact person. I like numbers and math...and love that there are specific and exact answers to problems. I wish everything was this same way. When someone is telling a story about something that has happened and they leave information out, or tell it "wrong" I am bound to correct them. This happens a lot with Trevor (poor guy). He'll be on the phone talking to his family, and updating them on what's going on in our lives. He always leaves things out, or says things that aren't quite right. I then chime in and correct him. It drives him NUTS! It actually drives me a little nuts myself, but I can't help it. I do the same thing when he's singing a song and sings the wrong lyrics, I HAVE to let him know what the correct lyrics are, even though he doesn't even care, and most of the time sings them wrong just to bug me. I don't correct people to belittle them, I just do it before I realize that I'm doing it. I guess I'm pretty annoying!
6. I don't kill bugs. It's not that I like them or something....I just don't kill them. In fact, I don't want to be near them at all. The whole tissue squishing thing completely grosses me out and not only do I NOT want to be within hand distance of bugs, I definitely don't want to feel them squished between my fingers. If I have a chance to "save" a bug I will try to shoo it out the door/window. Why? I don't know, I guess they're alive too. The exception to "killing" bugs is if there's a spider or bee. Then the only way to deal with them is the vacuum. I hold out the extension so I'm as far away from it as possible and suck it up. I know it doesn't necessarily kill it, but at least it captures it. I usually let the vacuum run for a couple of minutes to make sure it's not stuck in the tube. It's nice now that we have a dyson, because it's like there's a little viewing window.
Well, I guess that wasn't so hard (even though it's taken me almost a week to finish, I can only spend a small amount on the computer at a time). I'm supposed to "tag" six people, but I don't know if I know six people with blogs to tag, so if you read this, you should consider yourself tagged :o).
On Saturday we took Jace to the Layton park to feed the ducks. I certainly don't remember there being that many ducks the last time we were there. There were literally hundreds! It was disgusting because there was poop everywhere! I should have taken a picture of our stroller wheels which were plastered with the stuff! Aside from the poop, it was a lot of fun! We didn't let Jace actually feed the ducks because they were pretty aggressive, and would have eaten the bread AND his little fingers in the same bite! He kept reaching out his hands to try and pet them, which caused me great anxiety. Some of the geese or swans (whatever they are) were HUGE! Anyway, it was a nice way to spend an afternoon. We have to take advantage of the somewhat warm weather while it lasts...
Okay, so a book about vampires is usually not my thing, but I tell you what, these books are SO good!! I read them all in just over a week WITH two babies at home. Not sure how I accomplished it, (I read every time I nursed Brooklyn which apparently accounts for a lot of time!) but these books are VERY addicting! Tara was reading the first one when she came down to help me with the kiddos and I decided I wanted something to read while a took a bath. Eight days later I was done with the series! Now I have to wait until next year until book number four comes out. I miss Edward already :o)!
We had a lot of fun this Halloween! Jace was a turtle, and Brooklyn was "Daddy's Little Pumpkin". We took Jace to our ward's "Trunk-or-Treat" on Tuesday night (although it was kind of rainy, and since Jace shouldn't really eat candy anyway, we just enjoyed the festivities indoors) while my parents watched Brooklyn. Last night we carved another pumpkin, ate pumpkin seeds, and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. Jace got so excited every time the doorbell rang and would crawl as fast as he could to the door. Only problem was, he wanted to follow the trick-or-treaters and threw a fit when we closed the door. He got over it pretty quick when he discovered that there was a bowl full of candy inside! I didn't want him to eat a bunch of candy so we compromised with fruit snacks. He looked so cute in his costume...and I was so surprised he kept his little hat on the whole time...he can't stand to have hats on! Little Brooklyn slept through most of the night's adventures until Jace discovered she was down stairs in her swing, then he decided to wake her up with kisses.
Jace loves to give Brooklyn kisses. We don't even have to ask or tell him to give them. He does it all on his own. He is talking more and more every day. He learned how to say baby today. I keep trying to film him saying all his other words but he must know he is on camera because he quits saying them when once I press record. He's starting to realize that Brooklyn actually exists and is here to stay. His new favorite toy is the baby in the swing. He is usually pretty gentle with the baby. Notice the poking towards the end of the video. Maybe we will work on that tomorrow (and the next day!)
Well, not too much new to write about. I just wanted to post this cute picture of my babies. Do they get any cuter than this?
So a couple of weeks ago, Trev was going to go camping at our ward's mens campout. He suggested that I go to one of my sisters houses with Jace to get out of the house and so I wouldn't be lonely. So I went up to Tara's house Friday afternoon and stayed until Saturday afternoon (that's when we made all of those bows...a couple of blogs ago..). Anyway, when I came back, much to my surprise, Trevor hadn't gone camping at all, but had enlisted several of his friends (thanks Cam, Zak, and Paul) to help him paint and put up paneling in Jace's new room. (We're moving him from the nursery to what used to be our computer room/office, so that the baby can be in the nursery). I was SO surprised! We had talked about changing the room, but I saw no possibility in it happening before the baby was born, and I really didn't want to have all the paint fumes with a brand new baby in the house. I seriously have the best husband in the world! He is always doing the sweetest things, and surprising me with stuff like this. It looks so good! The pictures really don't do it justice. Here are some before and after shots. I'll take more pictures with Jace's stuff in there once we get it all moved over.
Before...
After...
Thanks to the creative talents of my sister, here are some more layouts of our perfect baby girl. (I am loving digital scrapbooking!) Brooklyn is one week old today! I can't believe how fast time has flown by. She is such a good baby. We have hardly heard her cry. She is still so tiny. Life with two is going to be crazy. Thankfully Trevor had the last week off and Tara is going to spend the next week down here helping me out. Shelly has offered to take Jace the following week which will be very helpful. I am so lucky to have so many people to help me. Jace is adjusting better than I thought with having Brooklyn home. He loves to help me burp her and to shove her pacifier in her mouth. He is always trying to pull the bows out of her hair, poke her in the face and put his fingers in her mouth. She is going to be one tough girl. He hates it when she is sad. (Which is seldom.) If she cries, he cries. He is going to be a great big brother! I am so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy babies. I am so thankful that I get to be their mom!!
Brooklyn Nicole arrived yesterday at 2:23 P.M. She weighed 6lbs 9oz and was 19.5 inches long. She has a ton of dark brown hair. I don't think any of these pictures will show just how much hair she has. I am still in the hospital so my sister is posting these pictures for me. I will write more about the labor and birth in my next blog. This little girl is simply beautiful! Enjoy! (Click on the pictures to make them bigger.)
One Happy (and very Cute) Family!
So this past weekend I went up to Park City to stay with my sister while Trevor went "camping" (I'll talk about that more in an upcoming blog). We decided to be crafty and tried our skills out at making headbands for baby sister. I'm learning that all of these girl accessories are quite spendy...headbands can be $8.00-$9.00 a piece (are you kidding? I don't spend that kind of money on myself). Anyway, I heard that a lot of headbands they make for little girls are just made of women's knee highs and flowers. They are super cute, but sometimes the flowers they put on are so big, you can't see the baby! So with some knee highs, silk flowers and other scrap-booking accessories, and a lot of hot glue, here are the results. Impressive, eh? We got a little carried away, and now I have 28 headbands. (Tara reminds me that now she can wear a different headband every day in February!) They're a lot of fun to make though...and I realized that I am capable of being crafty. (With a little help from my sister.)
Jace absolutely loves going to the park. As soon as the park comes into view he is giggling, squirming, and flapping his arms. He gets so excited!! He loves to climb up the slide and climb all over the playground.
The swing has to be his favorite. I think we could leave him on it all day and he would be happy. He loves Grandpa and Grandma Barnes' swing. This boy loves to play all day long.
A child reminds us that playtime is an essential part of our daily routine.
So here's some more pictures of baby girl....I know I just posted some a couple of weeks ago but these turned out SO good! As you can see, her arm/hand is in her face in the bottom picture, but the doctor poked and jiggled her around a bit and she eventually moved her arm. What a sweet face, huh :o)?! She looks a lot like Jace, and it will be interesting to see how close she looks to these pictures when she arrives. I'm 38 weeks, but my doctor said he'll induce me a week early if I want. He says my body has a tendency to hold on to my babies, and if I leave it to my body, I'll probably go a couple weeks over. No thanks! I guess we'll see. The doctor said she looks great and estimates her to be about 6 lbs 12 oz. I'm excited to finally meet this little girl, although I must admit I'm really scared as well. What an exciting journey we're about to start!
So last night the neighborhood girls threw me baby shower. At first I kind of felt dumb (especially since I had just had a shower last summer for Jace) but they insisted since I was having a girl. My goodness I got SO spoiled! I got so many fun and girly things! I also had a shower a couple of weeks ago with Julie's side of the family (they get together for lunch every time one of the girls has a baby or gets married) and they all spoiled me too! (This picture doesn't include all of the things my sisters have already given me too.) I am constantly reminded of how giving and generous people are. I am so lucky to have my family, friends, and neighbors! This little girl is already so loved and so spoiled. I can't wait to meet her and have her join our family.
