Summer Fun

This summer has been flying by and I keep forgetting to update my blog. Actually, I do remember, but when I do I am distracted by Annabeth or Camilla who constantly cries to be held. As I type this, I am standing at our kitchen bar holding Camilla, with Annabeth on the other side of me begging to look at pictures of herself.

Camilla is now 7 weeks old and looks more and more like a baby than a newborn. We are starting to see some real smiles and she's making lots of eye contact. I forgot how cute they are this little. Thus my house is a disaster because I can't get anything done. She is getting blessed this Sunday and we are excited that most of our families will be able to come. As for Annabeth, she is a great big sister. She loves to help me with everything and give lots of hugs and kisses to her sister. I just feel guilty that I can no longer spend as much quality time with her as I am either nursing or holding the baby. But it drives me INSANE that she insists on doing everything by herself when we are in a hurry to leave the house, but cries for me to help her with the smallest task when I'm busy driving or nursing. I can't wait for August to come because she is participating in a pre-school co-op and I think it's going to be great for her.

Our favorate thing to do together this summer is to swim. We walk to the pool by our house nearly every day in the evenings. This is perfect timing because it gets her good and hungry for dinner and wears her out so she goes to bed on time. She's much braver swimming with floaties on this year although it took a lot of coercing to get her back in the water.

I love these two girls like crazy, but I will admit that my favorate time of day is bedtime!! It's amazing how much you can love someone, and yet be so excited for them to go to sleep! Here are a few pictures of our summer so far.

Baby Camilla's Finally Here!

This past week has been a whirlwind! On Monday, May 9th Camilla Kay Barrow made her entrance into the world. (After struggling to decide on a middle name, we finally went with Kay which is my mom's and my sister's middle name.) We are so excited that we get to be the parents of yet another beautiful baby girl. Camilla looks so much like Annabeth did as a newborn - aside from her "sumo" wrestler cheeks. She weighed in at a surprising 7 pounds 14 ounces, nearly a pound more than her big sister. As for the delivery, I have to say that I seem to be very lucky since both Annabeth and Camilla came super fast. I was induced at 6:00, the doctor broke my water at 8:00 and at 9:01 she was born. I think the Lord knows what we can handle and He must know that I can't handle too much pain. =) I sent Brent out for the epidural this time since the last time, he didn't handle it too well. And boy was I grateful to have it!

Annabeth is so excited to be a big sister. It is the first thing she tells people about herself. She loves to give her hugs and kisses and play with her soft hair. I am realizing though that I am going to have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't give her too much "love."

Thanks to moms and dads and all of our families and friends for helping us out so much this week. We feel so blessed to be the recipients of so much love and support. It is an amazing thing to bring a baby into the world and reminds me of the huge responsibility I have to care for these little girls. We love them so much!!

Bluebonnets

I can't believe it is April already! Just a few more weeks to go until Annabeth gets a new baby sister and we can't wait. A few things I will NOT miss about being pregnant: constant indigestion, crippling charlie horses in my legs and feet, and having to pee every 20 minutes!

My Valentine

And....for your viewing pleasure.....

Slideshow personalized with Smilebox

I can be crafty...

Thanks to mom and dad, I got a sewing machine for Christmas. Luckily, it came with an instructional DVD so I could set it up by myself. And it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. My first project was to make curtains for the new baby's room. We have this massive arched window that lets in so much light, even when the blinds are closed and wanted to block it out completely. I picked this light green material that matches the bedding in her crib and lined it with blackout. I sure hope I did it right! Unfortunately, one panel is longer than the other so I still need to fix that. But I have to say, I'm proud of myself for at least COMPLETING a project all by myself - even if it isn't done exactly right. Mom, you'll probably have to fix them when ya get here. =)

So if any of you have any ideas for easy projects for beginners, I'd love to hear them. I need more practice on my machine!

Overdue Christmas Pictures

We had a great Christmas last month. I should have posted these pictures sooner but never got around to it. We spent a week at mom and dad's house and had a great time with all of my sisters and their kids. Julie and Nick had their new little puppy Jack. Holli just got off of her mission so it was great to get see her, too! Unfortunately - we lost our camera in the middle of the week so I didn't get as many pics as I would have liked.

I got to eat Monjuni's and Counter Culture while I was home. Next time, I'm gonna have to remember to grab some Strawn's Strawberry pie! Don't know when I'll get to be with all my sisters again at the same time but I'm grateful for the good time we had together. Love you all!

Ryan Christopher and Annabeth. If he's my cousin's son, does that make them 2nd cousins?? These two were soo cute together. Ryan is such a flirt and liked to give kisses to everyone.

Had to post this pic of mom and her camo that Dad got her. She got her first gun last year and has actually been out hunting with him! I can just see her up there in his deer stand trying to get reception on her iphone!

So glad we got to see our sister Mandy who lives in D.C. Wish we could see her more often. We had a great time with their family.

Me, Holli, and Sara at mom's house Christmas eve. We're so happy that Holli is back from her mission!!

Annabeth playing with her favorate gift. A harmonica that cost a dollar! Why did I bother with the dollhouse??

Grandpa Harry and Grandma Rosie

Christmas morning at Gma and Gpa's house.

Dad and Uncle Kenny. They look more and more alike to me.

We have the best cousins!

Annabeth and her new bicycle from Gma and Gpa.

Cute cousins in their Christmas jammies from Gma.

Grandma Rosie and Annabeth

Annabeth in front of our Christmas tree. She still asks where it is and when Christmas is coming again!

Annabeth played her harmonica while Andrew played guitar

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Not much has been happening around here lately. For Thanksgving, we went to Bud and LaRetta's house in Sunset, LA. It was great to see them. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera....We were also sick the entire week. Thanks to LaRetta for taking such good care of us. I seemed to be the last one to recover, and am still trying to get my voice all the way back. I think pregnancy has weakened my immune system. =(

We are excited for Christmas to come this year. My sister Mandy gets to come home from D.C. and my cousin Holli, gets off her mission this month. I can't wait to see all of my family and have a much needed girls night out. I love getting to be with all my sisters at the same time. They are truly my best friends!!

Here are a few pics of the last week. Annabeth helped me make Christmas cookies, and we went to a Christmas display in Richardson. I love this month and want to fill each weekend with something fun to celebrate the season - especially since this is the first year that Annabeth really "gets" what it's all about. Looking forward to a wonderful month!

Helping mommy roll out Christmas cookies.

Mrs. Grumpy pants

Happy again

Finished product!

Annabeth and Tava posing

Annabeth got to meet Mrs. Clause. I think she liked her better than Santa b/c she had cookies.

Forgot to post this pic of her wearing her Thanksgiving outfit