las aventuras de la familia barker

Christmas 2011

2011-12-31T22:14:00.000-07:00

this year's Christmas was a lot of fun for us. the girls weren't big enough to really understand what was going on, but they still had fun and so did we.

thanks to Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Dianne, we got a lifesize Christmas tree this year! it was beautiful and big and we loved it! thank you!

fiona (pink) and sabrina (blue)

loved climbing onto the couch and pulling off all the ornaments they could get their hands onto.

once, they even squirmed underneath the futon to get at the tree!

those girls are too clever for their own good!

the girls also LOVED (and climbed on and squished and squeezed and snuggled with) the giant Christmas bear we borrowed from Auntie Kati, but as you can see, Dallin liked it quite a bit too!

we got a gingerbread house to decorate and had a lot of fun eating all the candy that was supposed to make it onto the house:

my house:

dallin's house:

but really, it was the same house, we just decorated different sides of it. as you can see, dallin CLEARLY has more artistic ability than i do :)

and for some good measure, some funny pictures of the girls

fiona left, sabrina right:

stuffing their faces full of yummy bananas

(i don't know where they got that! neither dallin nor i like bananas...)

one of fiona's newest poses:

fiona left, sabrina right:
just having fun eating.
i love that they are always so happy and full of smiles!

christmas eve:

fiona borrowing cousing cannon's hat:

sabrina is awfully concentrated on getting the container open:
(doesn't she have beautiful eyes?!)

fiona = super sleepy (look at that lip!)

sabrina left, fiona right: enjoying their new camping chairs!

christmas day in their beautiful Christmas dresses (thanks again Grandma Dianne): santa came!

sabrina LOVING her new bunny

fiona enjoying her new sippy cup

fiona left, sabrina right:

sabrina left, fiona right:

sabrina left, fiona right:
(they posed themselves like this for the picture!)

we had a wonderful Christmas season and loved spending time with family and friends! we saw some wonderful things and made some wonderful memories and have some new traditions (Festival of Trees). even though the girls didn't understand what Christmas was this year, I'm excited for how fun it will be next year! Merry Christmas everyone!

hats, funny faces, eating, and playing

2011-12-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

sabrina and fiona are very busy these days! they are hard at work growing big and strong, eating, wearing hats, climbing on everything, laughing, smiling, playing together and just being awesome!

they love to play with our cell phones, remotes, keys (basically anything that isn't a toy), binkies, stuffed animals, etc. and "sharing" them with each other (i.e. taking them from each other

sabrina:

fiona:

fiona strips, sabrina solid:

fiona climbing:

fiona pink, sabrina brown:

fiona purple, sabrina pink:

the great couch recover

2011-11-30T15:38:00.000-07:00

back in september (on the day of the poop-scipade), Dallin and i went to buy fabric to recover our ailing couch. this couch has been through a lot. it first belonged to my sister Jen and then to my brother Ben. after several years of love, we received it. it has been a wonderful couch but was in desperate need of a makeover.

we didn't get around to recovering it until november.
here is the before:

and here is the after:

my mom did most of the work. she is a total pro! i was not brave enough to do it on my own and she talked me through every step of the way and finished it off for me. i LOVE the new couch, it looks amazing if i do say so myself!

November 2011 & Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

i'm slightly ashamed that i didn't take very many pictures in November. a lot of the month, we were packing everything up so that we could move to a different (smaller, 2-bedroom) apartment in our ward.

fiona left, sabrina right:

they love to wear these hats, are always putting them on themselves and each other

our Thanksgiving dinner:

this year, our Thanksgiving was small. just Dallin and I, the girls and Jana & Mark.

our first time cooking a turkey was both successful and delicious!

even sabrina (pink) and fiona (purple) enjoyed the turkey, beans, yams, stuffing, etc:

playing on some of the things we gave away in our move.

they are so concentrated!

sabrina left, fiona right:

messy!

2011-11-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

remember this post (birthday cake) and how sabrina dove right in while fiona stayed a little calmer?

well, it turns out it's with all food. not just cake.

sabrina:

fiona:

beanie babies

2011-11-06T17:58:00.002-07:00

since i've joined pinterest, my list of DIY projects has grown at an exponential rate. dallin says that before i can do any of them, i have to refinish the couch (we bough fabric for it months ago) and refinish the chair i rescued from the dumpster. but i don't want to do that until we get into our new apartment next month...

so what do i do?

i decided to cheat and crochet the girls some beanies!
now, historically my efforts at crocheting (or knitting) end long before whatever i'm making is done, so dallin had some doubts as to my abilities to actually finish this. so i watched a few youtube videos about different crocheting stitches, got frustrated, tried a new stitch and had a finished beanie within about 45 minutes! nailed it! so then i made another one. and some flowers to go on the beanies. i just did a really simple crochet stitch for both and had them both done in about 2 hours.
looks like the girls are going to have a whole new collection of beanies this winter!

now, they aren't profesh, but i'm pretty proud of them.

and the models are cute too :)

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T21:00:00.000-06:00

we had really good intentions with Halloween this year, but it just didn't pan out the way we planned.

- we were going to let the girls carve pumpkins, but turns out they're too little to handle a knife very well yet, so we carved them instead (which turned out very cute) :)

- i was going to dress up like Mary Poppins, Dallin was going to be Bert (the chimney sweep) and the girls were going to be mini chimney sweeps. however, the night of our ward Halloween party, Dallin had class, so i dressed up and took the girls on my own. no one knew who i was supposed to be and they thought the girls were dressed like ninjas. so i made the girls little money bags and they went as burglars instead.

sabrina left, fiona right:

fiona:

sabrina:

sabrina left, fiona right:

- Dallin never had a chance to dress up ( he was very disappointed, he LOVES Halloween) and I had to dress up too many times ( i don't love Halloween so much). For work I dressed up as a bumble bee one day (my co-worker was a ladybug) and the other day i dressed up as Justin Beiber (low pants, purple shirt, green hoodie- it worked well with my boy-short hair). Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you ask), pictures are not to be found...

Here is a picture of most of my nieces and nephews all dressed up on Halloween:

despite things not going according to plan, it was still a lot of fun! we'll plan better next year!

my superhero

2011-10-23T13:22:00.001-06:00

i love dallin.
so very very much!

and i don't think i tell people (or him) often enough how much i love and admire him.
dallin is such a great person! he is kind and loving and brave and happy.
he takes care of me when i'm not feeling well, he cleans up poopy messes so i don't have to, he cleans up un-poopy messes so i don't have to, he makes me delicious food and he is always making me laugh.

he never lets anything get him down. he is always optimistic and hopeful.
even when i get discouraged, he just tells me everything will be okay and then he makes a plan to make sure that things will work out.

dallin is a very hard worker. he studies hard in school, tutors spanish students, watches the girls while i'm at work and still manages to find time to cook dinner.

he is amazing and i love him so much!

clever

2011-10-23T12:10:00.002-06:00

what do these two pictures have in common?

sometime yesterday, one/both of the girls dumped all of these toys into the garbage! we found said toys this afternoon when dallin threw away some food. i don't know if sabrina and/or fiona conspired to get rid of these toys, or if they just though it was cool that they could drop their toys inside and make them disappear.
either way, we got a good laugh out of it!
(after we got all the garbage cleaned off)

bathtime buddies

2011-10-22T19:03:00.000-06:00

From bathtime buddies

(click on the picture for a cute video!)
the girls REALLY love bathtime!

sabrina and fiona: best friends extraordinaire

2011-10-22T16:54:00.001-06:00

sabrina (turquoise) and fiona (pink) LOVE to play together!
they walk all over, chase each other, giggle and jabber all day long.
they say:
dada
mama
gaga
baba
duh duh
nuh nuh

daddy is "da DUH" and mommy is "da DUH" too. except when they are super sad or tired, then mommy is "muh muh muh"

one of their favorite things to do these days is climb. they climb in their carseats, they climb on the couches, into the rocking chair, and all over mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/whoever is around!

they are such happy little chickies and we love them so much!

birthday party

2011-10-22T16:26:00.003-06:00

we had a fun birthday party for the girls with our family and close friends. thank you to everyone who came and for the wonderful toys and books and clothes! the girls were spoiled rotten.

sabrina devoured her birthday cupcake with gusto! she just dove in with no hesitation!:

fiona was more reserved and ladylike. she just ate a little at a time:

isn't it funny how two girls who look almost the same could be so different?!

birthday babies!

2011-10-22T16:21:00.000-06:00

on October 13th, the girls turned ONE!
they had a fun day at the pumpkin patch!

sabrina trying to eat the hay, fiona giving us the crazy eyes:

sabrina:

fiona:

we love sabrina and fiona so much! they are such happy, funny, loving little girls who make our lives so happy! thank you for a wonderful first year girls!

a "crappy" day

2011-09-15T11:01:00.000-06:00

literally.

the girls will probably HATE me for this one day, but it's just such a funny/awful/gross story that i have to tell it.
this will be a "no picture" post. you will thank me.

dallin called me at work yesterday pretty upset because the girls had got into the garbage can in their room and proceeded to rip apart a diaper. but not just any diaper, a POOPY diaper!

it was on the floor. it was on the crib skirts and bumper pads. it was on the changing table drawers.
but that's not the worst part.

it was also on their legs.
and their hands.
and their clothes.

and
on
their
FACES!

yes, that's right. my babies ate poop.

if i had been at home, i would have freaked out! and probably barfed too.

but Dallin is my HERO and he cleaned the girls up. then he cleaned up their bedroom. and when i got home from work, there was no trace of the awful "diaper incident."

see, aren't you glad there were no pictures?

on top of old smokey...

2011-09-04T22:54:00.000-06:00

...all covered with cheese... blah..blah... meatballs! (that's the important part of the song anyway...)

as you can tell, sabrina (top) and fiona (bottom) LOVE their noodles and meatballs.

(and i've officially become one of those moms... i never thought i would think that babies covered in food would be cute, but these pictures changed my mind!)

barker family reunion- st. george

2011-08-31T20:15:00.000-06:00

warning: this will be a picture heavy post. sorry!

just before school started back up, we took one more trip to finish off the summer.

we headed down to st. george for the barker family reunion.

on thursday we hiked the subway in zion ntl. park with papa barker, kimball, mama and papa robison and my sister jen. dallin and i left the girls with mama barker and the others and enjoyed a beautiful but quite strenuous (in my opinion) hike without the girlies on our backs.

below: dallin's little "sabrina frog"

on friday, while the rest of the barkers hiked the subway, we took the girls to a splash park in downtown st. george to beat the heat. we also swam and just spent some good time relaxing and hanging with the fam.

fiona, sabrina

fiona:

sabrina:

becki and sabrina, dallin and fiona:

emma bean:

fiona:

jes and emma relaxing:

kimball and sabrina:

becki and sabrina, dallin and fiona:

on saturday before we headed out of town, we went to the st. george temple to do sealings together. kimball was a great sport being just a 'son.' :)

it was the perfect way to end summer!

man weekend- neola

2011-08-30T20:54:00.005-06:00

the second weekend in august, dallin, steve and travis went out and stayed at the old neola house and had an extended man date weekend. they had a lot of fun doing man things (boating and fishing), eating man food, telling man stories, and doing other mannish things.

a moose came after dallin while they were fishing!

relaxin' in jackson

2011-08-30T20:25:00.005-06:00

at the beginning of august, we went up to jackson, wyoming with some good family friends- alana & steve with little gabe, and josh & audrey with sophie and izzy. josh and audrey we nice enough to share their family cabin with us and we had a great time!

we went to mammoth falls:

dallin and fiona:

becki and sabrina:

relaxing around the cabin, four-wheeling, etc:

steve and charlie:

sophie:

steve and dallin:

josh and steve:

not pictured (because i forget to bring camera everywhere...): historic jackson city, teton national park, and the natural hot springs

the trip was much needed and the perfect break. (except for the part where dallin got sick on the way up, i spent one of the days very sick and then we got EVERYONE else sick too! sorry guys! we love you!)

thank you everyone for such a great time, and thanks mom and dad for letting us take your atv's!

i left my heart in flagstaff

2011-07-31T17:31:00.006-06:00

for the 4th of july this year, we headed down to see dallin's brother's family in flagstaff. we had such a wonderful time!

it was the first long trip in the car with the girls, and dal and i were a little bit nervous, but the girls did so good! treats and toys definitely helped!

fiona:

sabrina:

we had such a good time playing with ammon, jes, and emma.

ammon and dallin went rock climbing out somewhere on the way to sedona. they came back scraped, bloody, tired, and extremely happy.

jes and i took all the girls out to the "arts in the park" festival in downtown flagstaff. the girls had a good time rolling around in the jogger and emma's favorite part was all the belly dancing we got to watch!

we spent a lot of time just hanging out together and playing.

too tired to eat:

the girls slept in a little nest we made for them on the hotel floor:

and we took the girls swimming for the first time:

the day we drove back came way too soon. we wished we could have stayed with jes, am, and em for a lot longer (although i'm sure they were glad to get rid of us!)

thank you for letting us come visit!

9 months old!

2011-07-13T08:37:00.004-06:00

i can't believe these girls are already 9 months old!

they are such awesome girls! dallin and i are so blessed to have fiona and sabrina in our lives.

right now, during the summer, dallin stays home with the girls all day while i work. it's not ideal, but it works for us. dallin probably doesn't think so, but he does such a great job with the girls. they absolutely adore him! they smile and grin and giggle for him in a way that they don't do for anyone else! i love dal so much and i appreciate him for staying home with them.

now for a little about each girl:

fiona:

-always has a ready smile

- LOVES to buzz her lips together

-loves to copy sounds we make

-likes to pull herself up to standing

-likes to put everything she can find in her mouth.

-can crawl really fast, but is usually more content to sit in one spot and play with a toy

-loves to EAT! this girl will eat anything we give her.

- has one bottom tooth that is about to break through, but hasn't quite gotten around to it yet.

-fiona is very emotional. if something is good, she's quick to give us a giggle or a smile. but she is also quick to frown or be suddenly ravenous and upset that we don't have food ready for her immedietely :)

-says mama, dada, nana, and baba (but at this point, i'm sure they're just sounds)

sabrina:

-loves to make funny faces.

-just had her first tooth break through in the bottom of her mouth.

-puts everything she can find into her mouth.

-very adventurous. anything she sees, she tries to climb (this has resulted in several bangs and bruises)

-doesn't ever want to sit still. she's always crawling somewhere as fast as she can.

-a little slower to smile, but if something happens that she loves, she'll give us a smile as big as her whole face.

-is a very good eater, but doesn't like peas or beans

-was the first to pull herself to standing.

- is very sensitive to how fiona is feeling. if fiona is upset, sabrina will either try to touch her and make her feel better, or she'll get upset too so that we'll pay more attention. if fiona is happy, sabrina will get very giggly and smiley too.

-says dada, mama, and nana (just sounds at this point too)

fiona & sabrina:

-love each other very much

- if we leave them alone together, they usually end up touching each other's faces and arms and giggling hysterically

-love the tub! they'd stay in there and play all night if we'd let them!

-sleep all night long (from 7:30 or 8 pm until somewhere between

new favorite treat!

2011-07-11T21:35:00.005-06:00

one of our favorite snacks these days is popcorn.

but not just ANY popcorn

this popcorn is the king of all popcorn!

lemon herb popcorn

-1 bag microwave popcorn

-2-3 tbsp. butter (not margarine)

-heaping 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper

-1/2 tsp. parsley or dill

pop popcorn. put in large bowl.

combine butter, lemon pepper and parsley or dill and melt in microwave.

pour evenly over popcorn and stir as you go so that it gets evenly coated.

enjoy!

simple and easy!

it's so good that sometimes we end up making TWO different batches because one isn't enough!

happy snacking!

june 2011- final catch up

2011-07-11T21:17:00.005-06:00

i was a slacker and didn't blog at all in june, so these past few posts have just been to catch up. this last catch up post doesn't really have a theme except for our cute babies :)

so i apologize, but this will be a lot of pictures

(mostly journaling purposes for me)

sabrina:

fiona:

lately, whenever fiona is being tickled,

she grabs at her ears!

sabrina and fiona really love to play with each other!

they love to touch each other's faces and giggle at each other.

they have so much fun together!

june 2011- first camping trip

2011-07-09T23:03:00.003-06:00

in mid june, we took the girls camping for the first time. we went up diamond fork canyon with the robison's for our yearly camping trip. it was beautiful up there! but unfortunately our camera died a few hours into the trip, so we only got a few pictures.

the first night was pretty cold and pretty rough, so we wimped out and opted not to camp a 2nd night. we still had a great time though!

miss cowgirl sabrina chillin' with uncle jer!

fiona is happy with daddy:

in the morning. it was cold!

it was an adventure to say the least! we definitely learned a lot about what to bring next time and how to better prepare. note to self: it it's going to be less than 50 degrees, bring mittens for the girlies hands!

june 2011- sleeping beauties

2011-07-09T22:28:00.005-06:00

as the girls learn to scoot and crawl, they are all over the place!

and just like when they are awake,

they wiggle and move all over when they are sleeping too!

i'm not biased at all,

but i think that sabrina and fiona are the cutest sleeping babes ever!

fiona:

sabrina:

and my personal favorites:

june 2011- food!

2011-07-09T21:59:00.005-06:00

the girls are eating lots of real food now! they still drink bottles, but a lot of the time we have to sneak it to them when they are asleep. they'd much rather sit up and eat food than drink from a bottle.

most of the food they eat these days is from jars.

they like most fruits and fruit combinations except for peaches. they especially like apples and blueberries, pears and raspberries, and apple mango kiwi.

they love squash and sweet potatoes and corn, they will eat peas if we make them, but they refuse to eat beans. i don't blame them, have you tasted those things??

they also love oatmeal, applesauce and snacks. they love cheerios, cereal, crackers and yogurt puffs. and they especially love any ice cream or cake that gets sneaked to them!

we're working on sippy cups with them, but probably not as diligently as we should be. they enjoy them, but are still working on getting the hang of everything without spilling everywhere.

touchdown!

2011-05-19T20:26:00.003-06:00

or a tribute to rocky.

we can't figure out what sabrina was trying to tell us.

what do you think?

(she did this herself. no help from us!)

they started out sitting next to each other,

but then fiona rolled over onto bri.

they are like magnets!

"look mom!

i'm so good that i can hold both bottles at the same time!"

isn't sabrina such a good sister to help fiona out?

"thanks sis!"

fiona is obviously grateful :)

update

2011-05-15T09:34:00.002-06:00

fiona in her native headdress

sabrina- happy to be in the car (for once)

fiona- worn out!

fiona (left) & sabrina (right)- showing off their new trick!

sabrina (left) & fiona (right)

it's been an interesting few weeks as we adjust to the new place and new routine. since dallin is out of school for the summer, he is home all day with the girls. because he is home all day, i have been working longer (also, we're short staffed). some days it's especially hard because by the time i get home from work, we're both exhausted. and it seems like he gets to see all these new tricks the girls are learning while i miss them because i'm at work. but that is where we are in life right now and we just have to make the best of it. at least we don't have to send the girls to a sitter all day long!

hello from "the village"

2011-05-07T22:15:00.003-06:00

well, we're at our new place.

not greenwich though. this "village" is in salt lake, but it's almost as cool.

(so i hear)

thank you to everyone who helped us move and clean and get organized.

our internet is up.

sort of.

dallin and i can't figure out how to set up the wireless router (we're technically challenged), so we're plugged in to the wall for now and can't use his laptop or the wii...

we'll have to find someone to help us with that soon.

this works in the mean time though so i don't go crazy without internet access.

we're excited for new neighbors and friends, more space, and for dallin being closer to school. hopefully we'll learn to be a little more social too.

also, we can't find dallin's camera and mine is acting funny, so the only pictures i have are from my phone, but we've got some funny ones i have to share!

fiona is always eating her feet!

aunt jana was making funny faces at sabrina

& she was making them right back!

we were laughing so hard!

fiona is looking cool in her easter sunglasses!

(thanks grandma dianne!)

the wii remote kept sabrina quiet for a while.

she cried when i took it away.

i'm such a mean mom!

tub time!

fiona left, sabrina right!

our new tub isn't slippery on the bottom,

so they can sit in the tub without mom being

terrified they going to fall down and drown.

don't worry, we still keep a very close eye (and hands) on them.

fiona loves her bath!

also, i may have already posted this, but oh well.

6 month stats:

sabrina- 15 lbs. 6 oz.

fiona- 15 lbs. 11 oz.

these girls are so funny! they are starting to show so much personality!

they are always chewing on whatever they can get to their mouth.

toys, remotes, phones, keys, you name it, they want it in their mouth.

today while we were playing outside, fiona got ahold of my keys and was sucking on them.

then she puked all over the car remote. haha. i hope it still works!

lately, sabrina and fiona been sleeping pretty well.

most nights they'll sleep all night.

as long as we keep them well fed, that is.

they had a hard time last night (first night in the new apartment), but i think they're a little less shell-shocked tonight, so hopefully they'll sleep better.

(i think it will help that we finally found the blankets that fit them,

so they won't keep punching their way free too!)

anyways, this is a pretty random post,

i just wanted to get this all down and share these cute pictures.

oh! and happy mother's day tomorrow!

be sure to tell your mom thanks for everything she does!

why i don't (always) volunteer that i have twins

2011-05-03T22:04:00.005-06:00

i swear, i've had this exact conversation before. dallin too. except maybe we're nicer about it. but that's what we're thinking....

happy anniversary

2011-05-02T21:48:00.003-06:00

happy 2nd anniversary to my favorite (and only) husband, dallin!

these past two years have definitely been the best in my life! i love waking up every morning next to my best friend in the whole world. i love dallin so much and i'm so grateful for everything he does for me.

he makes me laugh so hard i cry, he makes me happy and he makes me food.

it doesn't get much better than that!

also, happy 100th post to me! if i was popular enough i'd have a giveaway or something, but alas, you readers will have to content yourself with a comment on my wall saying that you think i'm great. because if you're reading this, YOU are great!

moving

2011-04-25T21:37:00.002-06:00

we're moving in two weeks.

not far away.

it's up to the university village so that dallin can be closer to school and we can have more space.

we're excited about having a bigger place, but we're very sad to be leaving murray. we have so many wonderful friends in the ward and we're comfortable here. thinking about leaving makes me want to cry.

now, all i have to do is pack our life up. get rid of things we don't need and somehow try to fit into boxes all the things we do need. i guess i should be grateful that we don't have to move to another state (just yet), but this doesn't really make me feel any better.

any suggestions on how to make the move easier or more efficient?

6 monthiversary

2011-04-15T21:04:00.007-06:00

as of the 13th, fiona and sabrina are 6 months old! we had a lot of fun that day taking pictures and going on walks. we had their 6 month appt on friday. sabrina weighed 15 lbs 6 oz and fiona weighed 15 lbs and 11 oz. doc says they are growing great!

-they eat oatmeal, applesauce, pears, peaches (fiona doesn't like these), sweet potatoes, carrots, squash, peas (sabrina doesn't like these), and bananas.

-they both roll over

-they can both sit up unassisted

-they love their jumper and they love bouncing and kicking their legs in it

-they sleep about 8 hours at night

-they LOVE each other so much! they are always patting each other and cooing and snuggling, it is so adorable!

now for the pictures (there are a lot):

fiona:

sabrina:

fiona top, sabrina bottom:

fiona left, sabrina right:

sabrina back, fiona front

sabrina:

fiona:

fiona left, sabrina right:

fiona:

fiona left, sabrina right:

sabrina:

fiona left, sabrina right:

when i'm worried and i can't sleep

2011-04-12T00:03:00.003-06:00

today was one of those days where it seems like nothing went quite right. (you all have those every once in a while right?) so i thought about ranting about everything that went wrong, but i think instead, i'll write about good things instead. i think in 20 years when i look back, i'd rather read about good things and not bad :)

1- i have a job. it may not be the best, and some days it makes me cry, but it pays the bills and makes it so that Dallin doesn't have to work while he finishes school. because of my job we have health insurance and health savings.

2- we don't have any more medical bills. this means that other than my student loans, we are debt free. hopefully i will have those paid off too in just a few more years.

3- Dallin goes to school for free. right now he is elligible for grants that make it so he can actually go to school without going into debt.

4- we have awesome family that helps us so much! my mom and Dallin's mom watch the girls during those times that i have to be at work and dallin has to be at school at the same time. this means that we don't have to pay for babysitters.

5- we have 2 beautiful and healthy girls! sabrina and fiona are growing so much and showing us more personality every day. they can sit up on their own now and get just about anything to their mouth so they are starting to entertain themselves more. it is so much fun to watch!

6- we have the Gospel! this brings more blessings to our lives than we will ever deserve. and even though it is hard sometimes to keep up with everything we're supposed to, the Lord still rewards us for every bit of effort we put forward. even when things don't go according to our plan, Heavenly Father lays out another plan that is better for us. we just have to have faith that He knows what is best for us.

wow, i feel better already. much better than if i had spent this post complaining i think. i was laying in bed and couldn't sleep because i was so frustrated, but now that i have this all written down and i've had a chance to reflect on the good things, i feel a lot more at peace and i think i'll be able to sleep now.

sweet dreams all!

just gotta have some faith

2011-03-31T09:49:00.004-06:00

some days i just can't figure out how everything is going to work out, or how we'll get everything done.

but it's worked out so far, so i just have to remember that if we live right and try our best, it will probably work out in the future too.

even if nothing adds up while we try to figure it out.

10 things that are great about right now

2011-03-28T21:56:00.002-06:00

1- i am almost done with my statistics class! last class ever! yes yes, i know most of you thought i was already done.and i was supposed to be, but i was short a few credits. so now i'm almost done for real and i will hopefully pull an a in the class and then i will have my bachelor's degree!

2- it took a year, but i am finally done paying off medical bills! it's amazing what being pregnant and having twins will do to your medical expenses. luckily the girls were perfectly healthy, so it was a lot less painful (for my wallet, at least) than it could have been.

3- the girls are starting to sit up all by themselves. (i'm on dallin's laptopper, so i don't have access to pictures, but i'll post some of those later)

4- we received our 2nd blog book (for the year 2010) in the mail last week. i love how much fun it is to go back and re-read our entries. now, i just need to get my blog printed from before d and i got married, and i'll be all caught up

5- d has less than a month left in the semester. this one has been a hard one for him full of lots of classes that he doesn't really like, but he's been stellar (like usual) and will finish up well. but the best part is that he will be done! for a few months at least.

6- d is also looking for a part-time job for the summer. he found a position at camp tracy (a boy scout camp) as a climbing instructor and has an interview this week. how perfect would he be at that?!

7- my cousin and his wife are being sealed to their daughter elizabeth this coming friday. she is such a sweet girl and i am so happy for them!

8- general conference is this weekend! i probably won't get to watch it on saturday because of work, but i'm really excited for sunday at least! it always makes me want to be a better person.

9- we've been doing a half-hearted "cry it out" this past week with the girls so that they can learn to sleep unswaddled and even with our lame efforts (me sneaking in to peak at them), the girls learned pretty quick to fall asleep in just a few minutes (as long as their tummies are full of course).

10- we've been having problems with our car starting lately. i took it into big o today to get it fixed, afraid it would be something like the started. luckily, all it needed was the battery terminals replaced and $26 later, we're good as new! how great is that?

11- i love how much sabrina & fiona are in awe of their surroundings. while d was working on homework this evening, i took the kiddos out for a walk in their stroller. we went carseat free this time, so they were just sitting up in the stroller on their own. we walked a few blocks and they didn't make a peep the entire time. i kept checking on them to see if they'd fallen asleep, but they were wide awake, turning their heads from side to side to just soak everything in, mouths in little "o's" just lapping it all up. i just love how aware they are becoming!

12- i'm sitting on the couch, while d is at the desktop working on a paper. it's quiet now cuz the girls are asleep. he's working so hard. i just feel super grateful and so blessed to have him for a husband. i love him so much and i love him more every day (sorry, i got the sappies there for a sec)

i could go on, but i better stop now, since i'm at #12 instead of just ten like i said. our life is busy! and crazy! and overwhelming a lot of the time, but when i sit down and think about it, i have no reason to complain! sure, it seems like there are days where i don't get anything done, or the girls cry all day, or i'm just so tired. it's hard sometimes because d would rather be working, and i'd rather be at home, but... i have a good job that pays the bills so that d can focus on school and get done quicker. f & s are awesome little sweeties who just bring so much love and laughter to our little tiny apartment. we are just so blessed! all we have to do is remember that.

what is something you are grateful for?

mealtime monday

2011-03-28T19:13:00.005-06:00

wow, what a tremendous response from last week! (haha, just kidding peeps. this is obviously more for my benefit than anyone else's, because it forces me to plan our menu!)

our menu this week includes:
monday- leftovers
tuesday- homemade tomato basil pizza
wednesday- slow cooked pork carnitas
thursday- chicken & rice
friday- out with family
saturday- to Barker's
sunday- to Robison's

kind of a lazy week cooking wise, but it's just one of those weeks. we have a lot of family things this weekend including conference and my cousins being sealed to their wonderful daughter elizabeth! i don't mind though because it means lots of family time and less cooking for me!

here is a new easy recipe we love

thai chicken
2 large chicken breasts
3/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lime juice

put chicken in crock pot. mix together salsa, peanut butter, soy sauce, and lime juice. pour over chicken. cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4. serve shredded or whole over rice. i like it over basmati rice best, but brown rice is a healthier alternative and it's still tasty.

i'll admit, i was a bit skeptical of the salsa/peanut butter mix, but it is SO tasty!
we love trying new things! what is your favorite easy dinner?

Mealtime Monday

2011-03-21T18:51:00.003-06:00

here's a confession: i'm not a big budgeter. i don't really have time to write everything down or put it into an excel sheet. so my budget is this: "don't spend money." since we're a one-income household for the time being, i've started to work on a weekly menu to save $$$. my sister-in-law posts her weekly menus on her blog, so i decided to start doing this as well.

from now on, i'll be sharing my weekly menu and a favorite recipe on mondays. we'll be doing a lot of slow-cooker recipes because i work until 7 most days. in the few weeks that we've been doing this, we have already seen huge benefits!

menu plan

monday:

frozen pizza & salad

tuesday:

crock pot fajitas

wednesday:

all-day meatballs

thursday:

creamy chicken & potatoes

friday:

eating out/date night

saturday:

turtle soup

sunday:

eating at grandma robison's

and now for a favorite recipe!

Eggplant Lasagna

1 eggplant pared and sliced in 1/4 inch slices; flour each piece and fry in a little oil till brown on each side. Drain on paper towels, then layer in a casserole dish. Between each layer add a tsp of tomato sauce on each slice and add shredded mozzerella. 1 eggplant usually makes 3 layers in an 8x12 inch casserole dish. Top with Mozzerella as the final topping. Then bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until cheese starts bubbling.

Cooking Tip: To get out some of the water in the eggplant, and to have a less soggy cooked vegetable, You can slice Eggplant, salt the slices generously on each side, let sit on a grid or paper towels for about 1/2 hour, then wipe off any salt that's left. The salt helps get rid of the water, either by absorbing it or by causing the eggplant to sweat. Cooking Tip: To rid eggplant of bitterness, slices the pieces into saltwater as you peel it. Pat dry before cooking.

tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie

2011-03-16T12:06:00.007-06:00

and we'll provide the rest! (name that song...)

so the girls have loved eating real food! we've only had them try a few things so far, but they always gobble it right up! so far we've had oatmeal, apple juice and apple sauce, sweet potatoes and carrots. i think we'll try pears and squash next.

they make such a mess when they eat, but i don't really have tons pictures of it (cuz it's hard to take pictures and feed two girls at once, one of which is usually on my lap). we've managed to snap a few though.

sabrina:

fiona:

sabrina & fiona are also starting to love their stuffed animals, arnie (an elephant) and paulo (a giraffe)! sabrina loves to grab arnie's trunk and suck on his tusks, and fiona loves to grab paulo around the neck and squeeze him tight. and lick him of course!

one morning, as we were getting the girls out of their blankets, we found sabrina like this:

somehow her nightgown had slipped down to a scandalous level, and we of course, being good parents, took a picture of it!

on sunday, their 5 monthiversary, sabrina decided to roll over onto her tummy. not to be outdone, fiona followed her on monday (march 14). uh oh!

we've been having lots of fun in the barker home. hope you guys are doing well too!

Dinner Menu and Sleep Deprivation

2011-03-09T16:33:00.006-07:00

I know that I haven't written in a long time but, I have made a goal to write at least once a month. Now you and a billion of your friends will get a once a month minimum subscription to my blog voice or should I say "bloice". You might be asking, "Dallin, why haven't you written in your family blog?" Here are a choice few from my list of one million reasons why I have not written in this blog. For example, I have been a full time student, taking 16 credits of educational law, Spanish, math and multicultural education classes. Or how about this; I'm a full time father of twins. Does that satisfy as a good excuse? If it doesn't I can email you my list or you can visit my website at www.onemillionreasonsnottowriteintheblog.org/dallin'sreasons\\therereallyareamilliongoodreasons.

I digress.

Now back by popular demand for a once a month appearance:

Dallin's blog post #12011

So I have a few things to say. First, my wife is a genius! She came up with this brilliant idea of a dinner menu. It sounds simple yet, it has saved our bacon; so to speak. The reasons behind the dinner menu are that Becki works late and I'm taking care of the girls and usually food doesn't cook itself. Therefore the solution, crock-pot dinners. Take note that this isn't always the case but, we have become fairly creative with dinner as of late.

The secret behind the menu is the menu. I know that doesn't make sense but if you shop with a purpose then you only buy what you need to make dinner for that week and you save money in the process. Furthermore, since you already know what you are having for dinner there is no questions as to what you will make. You never have to ask if you have the ingredients you need because you would have already bought the ingredients earlier that week. Genius! I just wanted to let you know how awesome my wife is.

Oh! I almost forgot. We have had some luck with the girls sleeping through the night but no more. For some reason Fiona and Sabrina have been waking up a few times through the night and it is a cruel existence to be living.

One trick that I have learned is this: Don't let them hit each other in the face. Once again it sounds simple but it is more difficult than

you can imagine. At night the girls like to flail their arms about like whirling dervishes and unintentionally slap each other in the face. One solution is to sack the stuffed animals and create a iron curtain to protect from the onslaught of fists and poking fingers. However, the wall of animals is not yet impenetrable so another course of action needs to be found.

Well this is life and it is a good one! Peace and Love!

positive

2011-03-01T11:20:00.004-07:00

it's funny how much things can change in just one year.

one year ago today, i went to the doctor for a pregnancy test and found out it was positive. then the tech asked me what my plans with the pregnancy were. she was asking me if i was planning on continuing the pregnancy. i said OF COURSE i'll be keeping the little rice dream (it's what we called the babe for the first few weeks)! the following months were hard of course, but totally worth it to hold those little tykes in my arms on october 13, 2010

i wonder what the next year holds for us...

(no, i'm not pregnant, just musing.)

country music

2011-02-24T07:49:00.004-07:00

there are some things that dallin and i both feel are important to teach the girls from a young age. one of these things is to love Brad Paisley. so we're starting them now. (click on the pictures to watch the video)

exhibit A- sabrina's first guitar lesson

From February 2011

exhibit B- fiona's first guitar/violin lession

From February 2011

happy birthday dallin!

2011-02-19T20:41:00.004-07:00

happy birthday (yesterday) to this handsome man!

dal is so amazing! i'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband. he works so hard to get good grades. he takes care of the girls while i am at work even though i'm sure he'd rather be doing other things. he sacrifices so much for us and we love him more than anything!

blog book

2011-02-19T19:10:00.003-07:00

i got this in the mail today!

i turned my blog from 2009 into a book. it was so easy and a lot cheaper than scrapbooking, so i've decided that my blog will be my new journal/scrapbook. that way, even if no one reads it, i still have everything recorded for our family. now i have a new incentive to keep up with my blogging!

you can check out the website HERE. it's really easy and fairly inexpensive.

diaper cake and wipescream

2011-02-17T08:36:00.004-07:00

a couple of weeks ago, some ladies in dallin's parent's ward threw us a diaper shower! it was so awesome because we got so many diapers (we filled dal's mom's van with them actually). it was such a blessing to get these, because i'm sure you all know how expensive diapers are.

thank you everyone!

4 month appt

2011-02-17T08:05:00.004-07:00

dal & i took sabrina & fiona to their 4 month appt on Valentine's day.

sabrina weighed 13 lbs 2 oz (38 %)

fiona weighed 13 lbs 4 oz (41%)

they got their 4 month immunizations and handled it pretty well (except that sabrina was running a fever the next day, but she's all better now)

the doctor also said that they were ready to start eating solids. (i can't believe that they are already big enough for this!) so yesterday, they had their first cereal and they did pretty good once i figured out the best way to feed them. i'm definitely going to have to budget more time to feeding them solids though, haha because it is not nearly as fast as just giving them a bottle!

lately, we've been bathing the girls together. we moved them out of their little tub and into the big tub, so now there is room for both of them. they have a lot of fun splashing and wiggling!

we can definitely tell these girls apart, but we sure think they look alike! can you tell which one is fiona and which one is sabrina?

taxes

2011-02-11T22:53:00.002-07:00

dear tax return-

thank you for being you and not "tax owed."

can't wait to see you next friday!

love,

becki & dallin

p.s. we were very happy to see the your friend, "the child tax credit" this year too. we'll see you both next year!

pictures of the day

2011-02-10T10:51:00.003-07:00

take a look at those big sabrina eyes!

fiona always has a smile ready!

4 months

2011-02-09T12:33:00.004-07:00

can you believe these girlies are already 4 months old?

me neither!

we've really started to see sabrina & fiona gain their own personalities and it's so adorable!

sabrina:

- LOVES to suck on her fingers and hands. she'll even try to sneak a finger in while she's eating.

- purrs when she is asleep\

- bri is a scooter/wiggler! one night, i put the girls to sleep next to each other and the next morning, sabrina was upside-down!

- sabrina is very sensative to fiona. if fiona is upset about something, sabrina will be upset until fiona is okay again. we can tell she'll be the protector out of the two of them. we love that she is always watching out for fiona.

- giggled for the first time- january 21

- rolled over from tummy to back for the first time- january 23

fiona:

- she's the queen of the quiver and the puppy dog lip.

- she's very coy. she loves to grab a burp rag and pull it up to cover her face. when we go to move it, she'll give us a huge grin.

- fiona loves to puff out her cheeks and swish air around in her mouth.

- fi is the BOSS! if she is mad, everyone better be mad with her! sabrina certainly follows her lead. on the flip side, if she is happy, she coos and giggles until everyone is laughing with her!

- giggled for the first time- january 20

- rolled from her tummy to her back- january 21

s & f:

- love to snuggle! i secretly hope they never get tired of this.

- they love each other. whenever they are laying next to each other, they are always touching hands or cheeks

- they are AWESOME sleepers! we put them to bed between 9 and 10 pm and they will sleep until 7 or 730 the next morning!

- they LOVE to giggle and laugh. this has to be the most adorable thing i've ever seen when they are both giggling at the same time! i seriously doubt there is anything cuter anywhere.

dal and i just love these girls so much! we are so grateful for everyones help and generosity. we are never lacking when it comes to help with watching the girls so we can have a night out. we appreciate you all so much!

wrestling, sleeping and snuggling

2011-01-21T10:11:00.007-07:00

sorry, i have blog vomit (see the five other posts below), but now i'm all caught up! and let' all be thankful that i just posted pictures and didn't really talk :)

sabrina and fiona are adorable! no other explanation is needed.

dad says we need to start them young when it comes to sports.

wrestling:

sabrina is snuggling with dad in his jacket(he looks like he's about 25 weeks along to me):

sabrina:

sabrina (left), fiona (right):

love their bumbos (sabrina left, fiona right):

snuggling with each other. (fiona left, sabrina right):

fiona on Grandpa Wayne's lap and asleep on the changing table:

sabrina:

bath time

2011-01-21T10:04:00.003-07:00

the girls love their bath time!

hiccups

2011-01-21T09:17:00.002-07:00

Grandpa Dave, Grandma Karen, and Kira came over for FHE earlier this month. We were all laughing because of how much the girls hiccup after they eat! (click on the picture to watch the video)

From January 2011

new hats

2011-01-21T09:12:00.003-07:00

fiona (top) & sabrina (bottom) got the cutest new hats for christmas!

thanks Grandma Dianne!

smiles

2011-01-03T22:23:00.005-07:00

i've really been a slacker when it comes to blogging lately! we'll just say that i don't seem to have much time for that these days, haha. i'll update more later, but i just wanted to say that these girls are wonderful!
dallin does a great job at being a stay-at-home dad while i work. i really miss the girls when i'm gone, but we know that for now this is the best thing for our family.

the girls are really starting to show some personality which has been a blast to watch.

we love seeing them smile! they are just the best babies anyone could ask for! and they are super cute too!

can you guys which girl is fiona and which one is sabrina?

christmas 2010

2010-12-31T12:41:00.000-07:00

we loved christmas this year!

it was wonderful spending time with all of our family and meeting a new cousin, aunt, and uncle!

sabrina:

fiona:

sabrina (left), fiona (right):

fiona (left), sabrina (right):

sabrina (left), fiona (right):

thanks to Matt for taking some family pictures for us!

hope everyone had a merry christmas!!! (a month ago. no i'm not behind on my blogging...)

celebration

2010-12-06T14:36:00.004-07:00

big news everyone!
fiona & sabrina slept from 11 pm last night to 5:45 am this morning!
we celebrated this momentous occasion by SLEEPING for 6 straight hours last night. we thought about doing something more exciting to mark this event but decided a full night's sleep was good enough!

and now, for your viewing pleasure (or at least mine):

sabrina

fiona

mommy wow, i'm a big girl now (but plural)

2010-12-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

happy friday!

2010-11-19T16:12:00.006-07:00

fiona (left) sabrina (right)

have a great weekend everyone!

we definitely will because sabrina & fiona started going about 4 hours between feedings this week instead of 3. this means more sleep for us! YAY!

p.s. my niece emma calls the girls zebra & princess onah. how cute is that?!

my twin girls are cuter than yours

2010-11-16T17:33:00.008-07:00

you probably just want to look at pictures, that's fine. i do that a lot too :)

but let me first say:

dal and i LOVE our babies so much!

bri and fifi are growing a lot! they don't fit in their preemie outfits anymore and are outgrowing some of their newborn sized clothes also!

they love their binkies! it's a good thing too, because sometimes that is the only way we can tell them apart!

so far, all the baby things we have are shared by both girls. except for 2 things: their binkies (fiona green, sabrina blue), and their swaddle blankets (fiona's is green, sabrina's has monkeys). this is so that we can tell them apart in the middle of the night (when we are too tired to think clearly).

they are pretty much on the same schedule (yay!) and are eating every 3 hours or so. dallin and i are hoping that increases to 4 or 5 soon so we can get more sleep at night. suggestions anyone???

we can't tell them apart by their crying yet. but we can sometimes guess who it is based on who we fed last...

they love taking baths! they just don't like the trips to and from the tub. it's COLD!

they love their swing, their bouncers, snuggling, eating and staring

oh, and did i mention that we LOVE them? cuz we do!!!

now for the pictures:

the first few weeks and halloween

2010-11-02T18:43:00.007-06:00

life is definitely different now!

but in the best possible way.

these two girls are so beautiful and sweet that i don't even mind only sleeping for 1-2 hour stretches at night. i don't think any other people could make me feel that way.

they have stolen our hearts completely!

i think the 2 most common phrases at our home these days are:

i love our girls so much!

they are just so cute!

sabrina & fiona had their 2 week check-ups last wednesday and are doing wonderfully!

they both met and passed their birth weights by 3 oz. sabrina weighed 6 lbs. and was in the 3rd percentile for her weight and fiona weighed 6 lbs. 6 oz. and was in the 5th percentile. SO TINY!

i'll get onto the pictures now(there are a lot. but give me a break, they are cute!):

TWINNERS:

in their matching preemie outfilts (sabrina left, fiona right):

resting (fiona left, sabrina right):

just hanging out together. for not being identical, they sure look alike, don't they? (fiona left, sabrina right):

SABRINA:

october baby:

just hanging out with dad!:

just a regular sort of nap:

FIONA:

october baby:

snuggles with dad (and spit up too! dal went through 3 shirts that day, courtesy of fiona!):

just hangin' out in the baby sling:

HALLOWEEN:

we had a pretty chill halloween this year.

saturday night we made this delicious pumpkin chili, and this delicious pumpkin pie dip, hung out with grandma karen and grandpa dave, and had about 4 trick-or-treaters come to our door.

on sunday, we had a halloween party at grandma dianne's and grandpa wayne's house. lots of kids, lots of noise, lots of food. and the girls were the center of attention (of course)!

introducing...

2010-10-20T15:00:00.007-06:00

SABRINA & FIONA BARKER

Born October 13, 2010

I'm sure most of you don't want to know all the details of everything, so I'll keep this short. (If, however, you want to know more, let me know, I wrote everything down and can send it to you.)

On Wednesday morning, during our doctor's appointment, my doctor accidentally broke my water which resulted in us going straight down to Labor and Delivery. After about 12 hours of labor, I was completely dilated and ready to bring these girls into the world! As a precautionary measure, all twins are delivered in an operating room in case an emergency C-section is needed, but luckily that didn't happen.

At 9:47 p.m., Sabrina Barker was born! She weighed in at 5 lbs. 13 oz. and was 18 3/4 inches long. And at 10:07 p.m., Fiona Barker was born! She weighed in at 6 lbs. 3 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. Both babies were perfectly healthy and beautiful! Dallin cut the cord for both of them.

I think I must have had a very unusual labor experience, because I was expecting it to be REALLY, REALLY awful and it REALLY wasn't! Granted, after the epidural I couldn't feel anything, but even with that, given what everyone had told me, I was expecting the whole thing to be a lot harder, and much more painful.

All in all, it was really an amazing experience! I can't believe that Dallin and I are parents now! To TWO beautiful baby girls! It is such a wonderful blessing to have Sabrina & Fiona in our family!

WE LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

Sabrina:

Fiona:

Daddy & Sabrina:

1st Family Picture:

Loves from Daddy:

Fiona (left), Sabrina (right):

Matching hats:

Sabrina (right), Fiona (left):

i'm grateful

2010-10-11T13:53:00.003-06:00

for THIS:

because on MAY 1st, 2009, THIS happened:

and now THESE GIRLS:

can be with us FOREVER!

man, i love this kid!

2010-10-07T08:08:00.003-06:00

but how could you not, with a face like this?

dallin has to be the most patient person in the world (besides maybe my parents...), because putting up with me is not an easy thing!

but he does it.

and he does it marvelously!

so here's to you husband:

thanks for putting up with me waking you up 18 times a night

thanks for working so hard in school and at work

thanks for doing the dishes because my belly doesn't fit in front of the sink very well

thanks for putting up with awkward side hugs sometimes because front hugs don't work very well these days

thanks for all the kisses (good morning, goodbye, just because, hello, goodnight, just because, just because, etc.)

thanks for telling me you love me several times a day

and thanks for always making me laugh (see above pictures as proof. again, don't you just love that face?!)

love, wife

36 weeks

2010-10-05T11:19:00.006-06:00

isn't this the cutest load of laundry you've ever seen?

and here is a picture of the nursery:

we decided to go with just one crib for now, everything we read says they can share a crib for the first little bit and that a lot of times, they will actually sleep better when they do. my mom made these quilts on the wall and i absolutely LOVE them! aren't they beautiful?

now we're just in countdown mode until the girls get here.

on sunday, we were at my parent's house watching conference and i noticed that my contractions seemed to get pretty regular. after counting for 3 hours and having them be between 4-7 minutes apart, my dad and dallin gave me a blessing and we decided to head to the hospital. baby a is sitting VERY low. so low that the doctor and nurse seemed surprised that i wasn't dilated more. but after monitoring my contractions and checking my progress for about 3 hours, they sent us home because i wasn't progressing at all. i've still been having pretty regular contractions, every 3-7 minutes when i take the time to count them, but they haven't been painful, so we're just waiting until something new happens. i have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so i'm hoping to show a little more progression then. however, we realize that i may still not be progressing and that there is a possibility we'll have to wait until around 37 or 38 weeks before they will schedule an induction.

at my ultrasound last friday, they estimated baby a to be weighing about 5 lbs. 6 oz. and baby b to be weighing about 5 lbs. 12 oz. obviously this is just an estimate, but it's encouraging to see them at a nice healthy weight! the doctors say that their heart rates are beautiful, that the babies are doing well, and they seem surprised to see me in such good shape still (no swelling, good blood pressure, still walking, etc.), so hopefully this good streak continues!

dallin and i are so anxious for these babies to join us! we love them so much already and we are just dying to meet them! we'll let everyone know as soon as they arrive!

garden treats

2010-10-04T15:22:00.004-06:00

some yummy treats from the garden! and by that, i mean MY MOTHER'S garden.

one more reason why MY mom is the BEST: she shares her beautiful veggies with us!

what we've been up to

2010-09-30T09:23:00.006-06:00

after the fashion of a very funny blog i recently came across (thank you lauren), here are some of the things we've been up to lately.

we love feeling the babies move and wiggle:

pre-washing all the clothes the babies will be wearing:

studying our butts off (him for school, me for how the heck i'm going to do this! dallin doesn't have to study for that, we know he'll be an awesome dad!) :

in addition to all of this

i am: trying to get the girls room finished (so it looks like a baby room and not like a baby bomb exploded inside the spare bedroom) taking naps, taking baths to get the weight off my ever increasing middle section, doing regular laundry, trying to keep the apartment clean (who knew 2 people could be so messy! i'm in trouble once the babes come...), enjoying my time off of work, and wishing the babies would get here soon, etc.

dallin is: studying his tush off in school and getting good grades, observing teachers at granger high school for his education classes (and helping a little in the spanish class), trying desperately to get some sleep (which is pretty difficult these days because i can't get comfortable and he wakes up every time i move), working every night, being my awesome best friend, being an awesome husband, telling me he loves me, and wishing the babies would get her soon, etc.

34 weeks

2010-09-22T14:05:00.004-06:00

dear baby b-

your sister (baby a) has been head down this whole time. none of this flipping back and forth business. i would sleep better at night if i knew i could count on you to stay head down this time! you're causing me anxiety!
thanks love. you're a peach!
love, mom
p.s. see you soon!

let me explain:

up until the end of august, both of these little kiddos were vertex (head down). after a little trip to the hospital one saturday night, we found out that baby b (the one on my right side) had flipped and was now head up. this makes the delivery options a little more complicated, but we weren't worried. we know we are in good hands at the IMC where we will be delivering. well, all month baby b has been breech. when we went to the doctor last friday this was still the case.

when i went to have my non-stress test this morning, i found out that baby b has flipped yet again and is now head down again! haha, she is quite the little mover! i'm hoping she decides to stay where she is this time though because if she does, it makes the delivery less complicated and a c-section is less likely to be needed.

however, if she is still able to turn herself around at this point in the game, who's to say she won't do it again! i think we know which twin will be the one that just does her own thing no matter what, huh?

so join with me in this chant: "stay baby, Stay Baby, STAY BABY!"

labor day 2010

2010-09-06T19:18:00.008-06:00

well for labor day this year, dal and i both had the day off from work and school so we decided to go to the zoo. dal has been begging to go all summer and we have just had such crazy schedules that we haven't had a chance before now. i was worried that i would get really worn out from all the walking around, but armed with lots of water, i did just fine! i'm pretty sure we were the only people there though without kids (kind of like our trip to the aquarium last year, haha)

we can't wait for this time next year when we can take our girls to the zoo! we know they'll love it as much as we do!

just some thoughts on being pregnant

2010-08-23T19:20:00.004-06:00

this is me at 30 weeks

pregnant brain

i don't know what it is about being pregnant that makes people dumber. well, you know, i shouldn't assume this happens to other people, it's probably just me. i like to blame my mistakes and dumb moments on what i refer to as "pregnant brain." does anyone else suffer from this?

today at work, instead of faxing something i made 54 copies of it (or i would have if i hadn't caught my mistake halfway through. as it was, i only made about 30...)!

i'm always forgetting about things that happened 5 minutes ago...

i don't always remember how big my belly is, so i find myself running into doors or bumping my belly into things (this happens at work all the time... and i probably shouldn't admit to this either...)

also, does anyone else talk to their belly? i find myself having conversations with my babies and i pretend they know what i'm talking about. and then the people around me look at me funny because they think i'm talking to them when i say "stop kicking my bladder!"

my favorite

I LOVE feeling these kiddos move! i don't know what only one baby kicking feels like, but i swear, these girls move ALL day long! maybe they take turns sleeping and kicking or something because my belly is always moving!

i love feeling their feet and knees and elbows poke out and i love watching them ripple across my belly! i'm always grabbing dallin's hand and making him feel it, or i tell him to come feel them move.

my girls are stubborn already though, because if i tell him to feel my belly, as soon as his hand touches it, they stop moving. then he takes it off and they kick. and he puts it back on and they stop. i think they just like to tease him :)

the truth

i'm not saying that being pregnant is easy. i have heartburn and my morning sickness has come back. my belly hurts all the time and i have a hard time breathing or sleeping. but after everything i've read about twin pregnancy, i realize that i have it SO easy compared to most people. even easier than people i know that are pregnant with one baby.

here's why:

- i'm not on bedrest and i'm 30 weeks pregnant tomorrow

- i'm still able to work (i'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, haha)

- i still have ankles

- if everything continues to go well, i only have 5 or 6 weeks left (not 10!)

- so far (cross your fingers) i haven't had any of the complications associated with twin pregnancy

- we won't have to buy a crib, changing table/dresser, rocking chair, swing, carseats, etc. (thanks to family gifts and hand-me-downs!)

- i get to feel my babies move ALL day long (it's so AWESOME!)

but mostly:

- my babies are growing really well and they are healthy and strong!

so here's hoping for the next few weeks to go as smoothly as the last 30 have gone!

i CAN'T WAIT to meet these little girlies!

getting ready for babies

2010-08-08T09:45:00.003-06:00

thank you ben and alison!

and thank you mom and dad for helping us move it all!

(now all we have to do is figure out where to set the crib up...)

26 weeks

2010-07-31T17:52:00.002-06:00

dear baby girls-

i love feeling you kick inside of me! i love watching your elbows, knees, and feet poke out on my belly too! dad laughs a lot when he feels my belly move, i think it's because he's so amazed that he can feel you too! you guys are sure working hard! all day when i'm at work, i feel your wiggling around like crazy. sometimes i wonder if you are having wrestling matches inside or maybe you are just practicing your gymnastics? either way, keep it up. i need you girlies to grow big and strong! you must really wear yourselves out because by the time i get home and want daddy to feel you move, you must be sleeping because you don't wiggle so much at home :)

last night, it felt like i could literally feel you growing, my stomach felt SO stretched out. so this morning i measured my belly and it was a WHOLE INCH bigger than yesterday! i really did feel you grow!

thanks for being so nice to me thus far in this pregnancy. i have a little over two months, and i know we all still have some major growing to do, but if you could go easy on me, i'd appreciate it!

i love you kiddos so much already. it's amazing how much i love you even though i've never met you! but i remember the first time i felt you move (even before we knew there were 2 of you!) and i remember the first time daddy felt you move. you guys are so much a part of us already that daddy and i can't wait to see you!

we love you!

love, mom

delicious!

2010-07-31T17:36:00.003-06:00

one of my favorite things to make in the summer is zucchini chocolate chip muffins!

dallin and i went to the murray farmer's market yesterday and came home with some delicious treats! they have juicy blackberries, sweet corn, peaches, eggplant, melons of every variety, and so many other things. my favorite part is to just look around and see all of the good things they have.

we came home with some zucchini yesterday, and to make sure we used it before it went bad, i made my favorite thing! i used this recipe with a few modifications, and they turned out wonderfully!

the recipe said that it only made 12 muffins and i wanted more, so i doubled the recipe. but instead of using 1 cup oil, i used 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce. i think next time, i'll just use applesauce and see how that works. i added a quarter cup of flour as well to thicken up the batter. i actually got 3 dozen muffins out of the recipe as well, which was nice because we had some extra to give away!

happy summer cooking!

what are some of your favorite summer treats?

this week

2010-07-21T12:14:00.008-06:00

this is what dal is doing this week:

this is what i'm doing this week:

i think he got the better deal. don't you?

modest is hottest

2010-07-18T15:09:00.005-06:00

dear old lady patrons of the park center-

i appreciate your dedication to staying fit in your golden years. i enjoy watching you do water aerobics and march in the water to patriotic music. i can only hope that i am as active as you are when i'm 70 and 80 years old.

however, i hope i am infinitely more modest than you...

now, before you get offended, please let me explain.

dallin and i started coming to the community rec center to exercise. being pregnant, one of the only things i can do right now is swim. now, i love swimming laps, so i quite enjoy my time at the park center.

however, imagine my shock the first day i entered the locker room to see all of you ladies naked! some of you were small and skinny, others were not so small and not so skinny, but all of you were covered in wrinkles and rolls! none of which i wanted to see!

so, dear ladies, please, for the sake of all of us, use the changing rooms to change, and maybe you could shower at home next time? or at lease close the curtains that are provided in the shower room? i know you guys love to talk, but if you can't hear each other through those flimsy flower curtains, wait until you are done showering and all dressed again!

we are told all our lives that modesty is important, and even though you are old enough to do whatever you want now, i still think that modesty is as important as ever!

i'm pretty sure you don't want to see me naked, and as much as i admire you, i don't want to see you naked either!

so please, from the pregnant lady, do me a solid and keep all of that lovely skin covered up!

love,

crafty

2010-07-18T15:00:00.004-06:00

i copied this idea from a super creative friend of mine. visit her blog here.

while mine didn't turn out as cute as hers, i was pretty pleased with the result.

i bought the flip flops at joann's for $1.50 and the spool of black ribbon (i have tons left over too, for future projects) for about $3.00.

i made the flowers using this tutorial, except that i used about 15-20 inches of ribbon so that i could make the flower bigger.

then i super-glued the flowers to the top of the flip and that was it!

24 weeks

2010-07-18T14:55:00.002-06:00

side splitting

2010-06-21T22:31:00.003-06:00

the other day, dallin had me laughing hysterically! he was cracking jokes about "poop doctors" and had me laughing so hard that my belly was in some serious pain!

i finally begged him to PLEASE stop making me laugh so hard because it hurt so bad, and he responded with "well, i'm so sorry for making you laugh, i don't want your life to be enjoyable or anything..."

well, i can't really argue with that (a husband that wants me to be happy), so i guess i'll have to live with a sore stomach!

20 weeks!

2010-06-15T22:07:00.006-06:00

Half-way there baby! Or should I say "Babies"...

Today marks 20 weeks!

Here are a few belly pics as requested.

15 WEEKS:

18 WEEKS:

19 WEEKS:

20 WEEKS:

The past few weeks, I've been growing a couple inches a week it seems like, and I feel way bigger than these pictures make it seem, haha. Oh and this week, I went from having an "innie" to an "outie" belly button! I'm hungry all the time, and thanks to these two sweet girls, I have license to eat whatever I want! I'm mostly past the morning sickness, although there is a day every once and a while where I don't do so well. (Ask the Barkers for more details on our recent hike, haha.) I feel good mostly, except that it feels like someone stuck a balloon in my belly and is blowing it up all the time!

Other than that, we are just super impatient and hope these next 4 months go by REALLY quickly because we love these girls so much already!

backyard gossip

2010-06-02T12:24:00.002-06:00

so the weather is warming up now, which means that due to our lack of air conditioning, the windows stay open at night to keep us cool. the OLD lady that lives behind us is often out in her yard having LOUD conversations that we (as a result of the open windows) are privy to.

as we lay in bed last night, trying to go to sleep, we heard bits and pieces of what must have been a EPIC conversation. we didn't catch every word, but we caught a lot. it was really hard not to listen, and i'm sure they would have been embarrassed if they had know other people could hear them. but they were SO loud! after trying unsuccessfully to get them to be quiet, like making weird noises, so that they would know there were other people around, the two old lady's conversation turned to relationships. (weird... because they are so old...)

lady #1 was clearly the Alpha of the conversation (it must be her backyard or something, so she's automatically the leader?), and she wasn't very nice. she kept raising her voice and yelling at lady #2 (who we learned later was named Martie) and lady #3. most of what we heard was Lady #1 talking.

here are some of the most memorable pieces of the conversation that we heard:

"i am more psychic than you will EVER know. and you don't recognize that, and i feel sorry for you!"

"what do you think about that? now, stop talking and listen to me. Listen To Me. LISTEN TO ME!"

"oh! i never thought about it like that! you don't want to be in a physical relationship because Satan is jealous of YOU!" (dallin and i were hysterical at this point. we laughed so hard we didn't hear the next 5 minutes of the conversation.)

"i saw you. you went to some quack doctors and you were on prescription drugs. don't you know it, but man's medicine will KILL you! IT. WILL. KILL. YOU."

"LISTEN to me, okay? i know!"

"YOU are a cold-hearted frog!"

"open up to the rainbow."

"love is like God in a pebble."

"Listen to me!"

we also learned that Martie's husband had left her sometime in the past for another woman. that conversation went something like this:

lady #1: how long since john (ex-husband) been with jennifer?

martie: i don't know.

lady #1: you do too!

martie: i don't.

lady #1: YOU DO TOO! two? maybe three years?

martie: yeah, i guess about that much.

lady #1: fine. i'll tell you. it's been 2 1/2 years. 2 1/2 years. it's time to find someone new."

"in this world, the dark angels and the light angels are fighting to possess your body!"

"i can just picture this now. you are going to find a dark, curly haired man. 6 foot 2. and you're on the beach, at sunset. and you have your arms around his neck. and you say to him- i LOVE you."

(at this point, dallin and i TOTALLY lost it, because these ladies have to be like 70 or 80 years old, so for someone they are dating to have not only hair, but DARK hair, he'd have to be like 30 or 40 years younger than them!)

dallin and i finally had to shut the window, because they were IMPOSSIBLE to not listen to, and we were laughing too hard and it was getting close to midnight. WAY past my bedtime. after we shut the window, we could still hear them, but not as much. we still giggled though as we fell asleep.

p.s. dallin wants everyone to know that we are NOT creepy. it may seem like it (because we listen to other people's private conversations late at night), but we really aren't. he says that those ladies basically forced their conversation onto us and we had no choice but to listen or melt from the heat. obviously we chose our lives... we also hope that you don't think we are terrible people for laughing at their conversation, but it was pretty hard not to after some of the things they said and the tone of their voices.

TWO baby girls are on their way!

2010-05-27T11:27:00.011-06:00

Well, this was a shocker to us!

Here is the hilarious story of how we found out:

The night before our 1st doctor's appointment, I said to Dal, "What if we're having twins?" And then we laughed because that would be crazy. When we went to the doctor the next day, she showed us ONE baby and ONE heartbeat and we were super excited to be having ONE baby.

At our next appointment, around 14 weeks (just a little over 3 months), we heard ONE heartbeat again and were super excited.

Then, this past week, Dal and I were talking and decided that we should find out if we were having a boy or a girl. We figured that we were going to have to pay money to find out whether we did it now, or in two weeks, or in 4. So we set up an appointment at Fetal Fotos for 2 days ago (Tuesday).

We went in that morning and saw ONE beautiful baby on screen. We saw it yawn and scratch it's head. We saw it stretch it's little legs out and I felt it kick! But the adorable little stinker wouldn't show us if it was a boy or girl. After about 20 minutes or so of the ultrasound tech poking around, she apologized and said that we'd just have to come back a different day. She said that the baby would move around a lot in the next few hours and said that if we came back the next day we could probably find out what it was then.

So Dal and I set up an appointment for the next day (yesterday, Wednesday) to come back and try again. Well, by the time we got there we were just itching to know if we were having a boy or a girl! We were so impatient and just wanted to know! We had a different ultrasound tech this time, and as soon as she touched my belly with the little probe, she could tell there were TWO babies in there!

She asked us, "So, you know there are TWO babies in there, right?" We laughed, and said that that wasn't a very funny joke and that there was only ONE baby in my tummy. But she was pretty insistent and after a few, "YES, there are!" and "NO there aren't!" comments being tossed back and forth, she said, "LOOK, I'm NOT kidding here. There really are TWO babies in your tummy. See, here is ONE head and ONE heartbeat, and look over here, ANOTHER head and ANOTHER heartbeat!"

About then, Dallin and I started laughing really hard, in TOTAL shock. But she was right! We could see TWO babies in there! We asked her how the tech yesterday could have missed that, and she told us that the girl was pretty new and had just finished her training and probably couldn't tell that that is what she had been looking at. Or maybe one of them had been hiding behind the other one, so she just hadn't seen it at all. So then we asked her how our DOCTOR could have missed the "TWO BABIES IN MY TUMMY" thing, and she said that if the heartbeat's had been in sync (which is not uncommon), then it could have been overlooked.

At this point, she had me turn on my side to let the babies move around a bit and said she'd give us a few minutes to process things and then she left. Dallin and I just looked at each other in disbelief, laughed hysterically and just were in shock. We were NOT expecting there to be TWO babies in there. We have never even entertained the option!

The tech returned a few minutes later and pretty quickly discovered that one of the little beauties in there was a girl! Dallin got his girl! The other one took some more coaxing though and another tech to finally let us know that she was a girl as well!

So, in summary, there are TWO baby girls in my tum!

Later, as we watched the DVD they gave us, we looked for two babies in the ultrasound from the first day, and sure enough, now that we knew what to look for, we saw TWO babies. The poor tech from the first day probably just didn't know that was what she'd been looking at! No wonder she was confused! Haha, but at the same time, I'm glad she couldn't figure it out because otherwise, we still wouldn't know that we were having TWINS!

You guys are probably sick of me talking now, so here are the pictures:

Dal and I are super excited about this. We are super happy and realize that we are super blessed that Heavenly Father trusts us with two of his precious little ones at the same time. But we are also VERY nervous and VERY scared! I'm so glad I have a mom who had twins also, so she can help me out here! We are so grateful for all of your support and love and offers to help. We'll probably take you all up on them!

is it a girl or a boy?

2010-05-25T22:05:00.002-06:00

hopefully the adorable little stinker that we got to see today (via ultrasound) will cooperate a little better tomorrow (open it's legs and face forward) and we'll find out if it's a boy or girl!

(pictures to come!)

garden

2010-05-08T16:01:00.007-06:00

remember when we started our little garden?

well, today we moved it outside!

impressive, no?

okay, just kidding... we did plant our herbs in there, but we bought the tomato, onions, and jalapeños. those little tiny plants you can't hardly see (the cilantro, basil, oregano, and chives) are ours!

it's going to be our little salsa garden, and one day soon, it will look like this:

which reminds me... i didn't plant corn! that might have to wait till we have a bigger garden though, this one takes up our whole porch already :)

it makes me so mad!

2010-05-05T12:16:00.004-06:00

one of the most frustrating things about morning sickness:

eating something delicious, and then on the last bite, it makes you sick and then you barf it up!

it's happened twice now, and it makes me so mad! haha, i don't even feel sick until half way through the last bite and then i run to the bathroom to heave it up. poor dallin heard me moaning, "stupid, piece of crap!" both times after. he asks why and it's because i'm so mad that i lost my breakfast/ dinner. it was so yummy! he of course offers to make me another one, the sweetheart, but for some reason, i can't quite stomach eating the same thing again :)

morning sickness just ruins some foods for you!

P.S. Sorry for the overshare :)

i am LDS because...

2010-05-03T15:11:00.001-06:00

save our feet!

2010-05-02T15:02:00.004-06:00

dallin got an award for the best speech of the semester in his Speech class. he talked about the advantages of running barefoot (or nearly barefoot). he LOVES to talk about this, so it was a great speech. here is his post about running barefoot: here

this was his trophy for the speech:

(see more new posts below!)

best music video

2010-05-02T14:52:00.002-06:00

EVER!

enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwFoCFqbbb0&feature=related

one year

2010-05-02T10:21:00.005-06:00

well yesterday was our first anniversary! i can't believe how fast it's gone, it just feels like time flew by!

we celebrated our anniversary in a unique way. dal's sister jana married mark yesterday, so we spent the day at the temple for a wedding breakfast, sealing, and pictures afterwards.

one of the most special things about the day was after jana and mark's sealing. as we were leaving the sealing room, dal and i stopped by the room where we were sealed! we just poked our heads in the door for a few seconds, but it was really special to take a minute and think about where we were one year ago, at our own sealing! i'm so blessed to have dallin in my life and to have him forever. he takes such good care of me and is so supportive.

so here's to an eternity of more years as good as this last one has been!

i love you dal.

i sure have talented friends!

2010-04-15T22:20:00.007-06:00

i was trying to think of what i could post about because i know i've been slacking lately. but the dilemna is- we just shared our big news a post or two ago. all i've been doing lately is working (and who wants to hear about that???). we haven't gone anywhere fun lately (that i remembered to take my camera and get pictures...), etc.

so as i was looking at friends blogs, i realized that so many of the people i know are super talented! so this post is paying tribute to my friends who are so crafty and creative and lovely. some of them i haven't talked to in ages, but i want everyone to know how awesome i think they are!

mad photography skills!

stacy thiot!

kjirsten barker!

being hilarious is definitely a talent:

rob abney!

brinkerhoff and berkeley kershisnik ran a half marathon!

these guys are crafty and creative in ways that i can only imagine!

alana nelson!

aubree larson!

jana crump!

and look who can cook!

jana eliason!

ashlee draper!

obviously this was not a complete list, but just a sampling. but check these guys out and see how talented they are! they are so creative and talented that i can just copy their ideas instead of coming up with my own!

bieber fever

2010-04-14T20:06:00.006-06:00

don't you just love this kid? we sure do! dallin especially :)

and this girl does too!

we realize he may be a little young, and his voice still cracks, but we have bieber fever!

p.s. sorry it cuts the video off, you can watch the full size on youtube if you just click on the video

it's a...

2010-04-08T18:24:00.004-06:00

baby human!

edit: sorry. . .

there is only ONE baby. . . we're still really excited though!

due november 2nd!

snow?

2010-03-31T10:39:00.001-06:00

i guess april fool's day came early this year! did you see all the snow outside and how hard it's coming down? crazy!

i've been trying

2010-03-30T21:25:00.002-06:00

desperately to come up with something to post about, but there just isn't that much going on at this point. so stay tuned. i'm sure we'll have something exciting happening next week :)

it might be too early for this

2010-02-28T15:23:00.005-07:00

but dallin and i decided to start our garden last night. we know it's too cold outside to grow anything just yet, but since it's inside, and since we have limited space, this tiny little garden should work pretty well. the humidity that seems to dwell in our apartment will make this the perfect little greenhouse!

we planted lemon basil, oregano, chives, and cilantro. these are some of our favorite herbs and we figure its something we can do to not only save money, but make the earth a greener place!

we figured we'd share our progress with you. this is our garden after day one.
we thought about getting chickens too, but i'm not so sure our landlord would love that...

Running "Barefoot"

2010-02-25T11:08:00.006-07:00

So, I'm back! I know yall have missed my hilarious post so here is one that will hopefully benefit your health and running. As of late, there have been many discussions on N.P.R, The New York Times, Wired Magazine, and last but not least Christopher McDougal's book, Born to Run. In these discussions this question is asked, "Is running barefoot good for you?" Okay, I know what you may be thinking, everyone knows that mom doesn't let you outside without shoes, that is true. But here is a crazy idea, running barefooted is the way humans are supposed to run.

By ditching your running shoes, runners can develop a better stride, improve their distance, and greatly reduce their risk of sport related injuries. I suffer from acute tendinitis and planters fasciitis which is painful and happens when I run. The claim that running barefoot can ultimately eliminate running injuries and wont destroy your joints was good enough for me. So, I decided to try it out.

Now, there is a way that you can have the same feeling of running barefoot without worrying about sharp glass, dog poop, or nails while striding outside barefooted. The answer, Vibram Five Fingers! That's right, they totally look like hobbit feet. I have decided that since running completely barefoot is out of the question due to the weather and living in the city in Utah I've done the next best thing. So far, running has been fun; which to some of you may be surprising to hear coming from me. I have only just started and so far I love it! I would recommend this to anyone, especially those who may have bad feet or joint problems.

If you do start, take it easy, don't just pound out 5 miles on the first go. Walk around a bit, jog a half a mile and build up your endurance, for feets sake.

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-02-21T15:14:00.003-07:00

As requested (by 2 of you), here is the recipe for our new favorite cookie recipe.

They are delicious!

For those of you who love cookies, you'll love these for sure!

Ingredients

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Craisins
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack. Yield: approximately 2-1/2 dozen cookies.

(SEE MORE POSTS BELOW!)

las aventuras de la familia barker

Christmas 2011

hats, funny faces, eating, and playing

the great couch recover

November 2011 & Thanksgiving

messy!

beanie babies

Halloween 2011

my superhero

clever

bathtime buddies

sabrina and fiona: best friends extraordinaire

birthday party

birthday babies!

a "crappy" day

on top of old smokey...

barker family reunion- st. george

man weekend- neola

relaxin' in jackson

i left my heart in flagstaff

9 months old!

new favorite treat!

june 2011- final catch up

june 2011- first camping trip

june 2011- sleeping beauties

june 2011- food!

touchdown!

update

hello from "the village"

why i don't (always) volunteer that i have twins

happy anniversary

moving

6 monthiversary

when i'm worried and i can't sleep

just gotta have some faith

10 things that are great about right now

mealtime monday

Mealtime Monday

tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie

Dinner Menu and Sleep Deprivation

positive

country music

happy birthday dallin!

blog book

diaper cake and wipescream

4 month appt

taxes

pictures of the day

4 months

wrestling, sleeping and snuggling

bath time

hiccups

new hats

smiles

christmas 2010

celebration

mommy wow, i'm a big girl now (but plural)

happy friday!

my twin girls are cuter than yours

the first few weeks and halloween

introducing...

i'm grateful

man, i love this kid!

36 weeks

garden treats

what we've been up to

34 weeks

your sister (baby a) has been head down this whole time. none of this flipping back and forth business. i would sleep better at night if i knew i could count on you to stay head down this time! you're causing me anxiety!thanks love. you're a peach!love, momp.s. see you soon!

labor day 2010

just some thoughts on being pregnant

getting ready for babies

26 weeks

delicious!

this week

modest is hottest

crafty

24 weeks

side splitting

20 weeks!

backyard gossip

your sister (baby a) has been head down this whole time. none of this flipping back and forth business. i would sleep better at night if i knew i could count on you to stay head down this time! you're causing me anxiety!
thanks love. you're a peach!
love, mom
p.s. see you soon!