The Barnards

Oh how I love this sweet girl…

but boy is she a handful.  The last few weeks have been rough, very rough as a matter of fact.  She has always seemed to be a bit colic but it seems to come and go.  In the beginning it seemed like as long as I would hold her she would calm down quickly, but that hasn’t been the case in the last few weeks.  Lately it has been in full effect and I have felt completely helpless.  A little over a week ago she was the worst she has ever been, she had not had a bowel movement in almost a week and I knew she was in so much pain but nothing seemed to work or even give her a little bit of relief.  Finally after several late nights, I knew we had to do something.  Really the final straw was when Bryan had a midnight conference call and I was sitting in my closet with the door shut holding her while she screamed and cried.  And then he ended up going to bed before her and I that night.

The next day I emailed a friend who had a similar issue with her baby about a year ago and she had told me she took her to see a chiropractor.  I know a lot of people will think that is crazy but when she told me that I sympathized with her and knew that as a mom sometimes you are willing to do anything to help your baby.  So I got in touch with her and that same day I found myself taking my 3 month old baby to a chiropractor (gasp)!

I took her in last Wednesday, Friday and this Monday.  She is a million times better and has BMs every day since Saturday and so much happier!  For the first time ever I was excited about cleaning up and scrubbing clothes from a blowout diaper, her 1st one ever!  She still has her crying spells but nothing like they were before.  I know some people will judge and say, “I would never take my baby to a chiropractor.”  I will say I was skeptical at first but all that she really did was rub her back and belly and showed me a few little tips to help relieve her pain.  There is no actual adjustments like they do on adults.  I know some will still think I’m crazy and that’s okay.  Because there was a point in time when I think I might have been border line crazy!

I am always very hesitant to post anything negative about my kids because I know so many people who would want so badly to have a baby or who has lost a baby and would love more than anything to hold their baby even if it meant that baby cried all day and night.  So with all that I have said, I’m not saying any of it to complain but just to document that this is our life.  Crying nonstop or happy as can be I love this sweet little girl and even on the bad days like yesterday, she still has happy moments. Her smile lights up her whole face is absolutely contagious and makes every second of crying seem so minuscule.

Just like every other woman on the planet, I LOVE Pinterest! I love doing projects and with over 400 pins with most being projects or recipes I have a lot to do.

There a a ton of different bow tutorials that I am trying, my bows look nothing like my friend Ashley’s but I am practicing .

One of my first Pinterest projects was to make something for Finley for baby dedication. I knew I wanted her to wear this pink smocked dress but I wasn’t sure what she was going to wear on her head. I seen this simple little ribbon flower and I knew it would be perfect. I loved the way it turned out and it was so easy.

Materials used:
25 in ribbon or lace
Felt circle
Hot glue gun

I just bought a sheet of felt material and cut out a two inch circle.

Then I start gluing on the ribbon. I glued one end to the edge of the the circle and then continued around the circle.  When I got around to the beginning I shifted up and started gluing the ribbon to the lower layer of ribbon. I continued doing that until I had covered all of the felt. I then trimmed off the excess and glued down the end.

Then I glued a pearl button in the middle.

The final step was hot gluing it onto a lace headband.

I loved the way it turned out. I have also seen this made with lace and they are super cute. I couldn’t find the color of lace I wanted so that is why I used ribbon.

As we were walking out the door to head to dedication I noticed Finley didn’t have her headband on. I yelled, “oh my goodness, where is her bow!” we would have been coming back home for that. Bryan informed me that “God would probably not accept her without a bow.” Yes he thinks I’m crazy .

Saturday night was Finley’s baby dedication at church. This is a special time mostly for the parents to take a stand and confirm that we will raise our child up in a God centered home. There is so much I want to do and give my kids but I know that more than anything teaching then about Jesus is the most important.

This is also a time for the pastors of our church to pray for these children and their parents.  We let Deacon stay in service with us for the dedication and made the last minute decision to let him on stage.  I knew he would probably be better up there than if we left him with my parents.

One of the great highlights of Finley’s dedication was that we had several friends dedicating their children too. Somehow we missed getting the Burns in this picture.

We are so blessed.

My parents came in on Friday to be here for Finley’s dedication.  We were so happy to have them here for this special occasion.

These two crazy boys were so good on stage.  They are both such sweet big brothers.

These two sweet babies are exactly 2 months apart.  Right before this picture Finley tried to claw Graham’s eye out so that is why I am holding her hand down.

I am so thankful for my sewing mentor Carolyn. She has taught me more about sewing than I ever thought I would learn. Honestly when I met her I didn’t even know how to sew on a button. Yet, she took me under her wing and was determined to teach me to sew. It all started in our office one day when she taught me to sew a button on to my coat and then the next thing I know I was making outfits for Deacon.

Then a few months ago when I said I was going to have someone make Finley’s bedding she was not having it and informed me that I was going to do it and she would help. Which turned out more like her coaching me all the way through it. We spent long nights and a few days while Deacon was at MDO sewing. It has been so great to spend time with her and of course sew. Finley was our supervisor.

Here is a little sneak peak.  This was taken before it was 100% done.  The bedding is mostly done, all we need now is a couple of pillows.

I can’t wait to get this all put into her bed in her room!

Things have been so crazy lately finding time to blog is nearly impossible. There is a long list as to why I haven’t had time but this about sums is up….almost 4 month old, 3 year old, building a house, oh yeah and making baby bedding, more to come on each of these soon. Yep, that pretty much sums up what consumes my time. And then to add to that I have taken on some accounting work, not much but still it adds to the list. I love staying at home and raising my kids but I love that I am getting to do something to exercise my brain too. I really enjoy accounting and I am thankful that this is something flexible that I can do from home.

Overall we are doing good. These two precious kiddos absolutely adore each other and they seem to love each other more and more every day. It just melts my heart.

Finley’s favorite thing is to watch Deacon. It doesn’t matter if he is singing and dancing, showing off his cartwheels and toe touchs or playing soccer Finley just smiles and laughs like he is the greatest thing on earth. And he of course just eats up all of the attention.

The other day Finley was wanting attention and I just wanted to finish loading the dishwasher so I convinced Deacon to go entertain her for 3 minutes while I finished cleaning up the kitchen. He really wasn’t up for doing it so I convinced him that I would pay him to do so. I found a penny laying around and he was happy with that payment but informed me that babysitting Finley is hard work.

More to come soon, but for now I have to get things ready for Deacon for school tomorrow.

Before Finley was born I made 20+ burp rags and also got some as gifts, I thought that would be more than enough. Boy was I wrong! From very early on it was clear that she had reflux and the doctor confirmed what we already knew at her 2 month appointment. She said since she didn’t seem to be in pain and since she is clearly gaining weight that they did not want to put her on medicine, I was actually happy about that. She basically just said more than anything it is just a laundry issue for me and she was right on about that. Some dud this girl will go through 6-8 outfits in one day. Add in burp rags, bibs and me having to change clothes multiple times and that = endless laundry!

The Dr expects this to get better once she starts eating solids and can sit up. Most of I just want it to be over for her. I know it isn’t fun for her and I am sure she is somewhat uncomfortable.

No matter how messy she is we still love her to pieces. So precious!

She likes to hold on to something when she naps. Lately I have constantly been giving her things to hold on to, because if you are holding her she will grab your skin or in Bryan’s case hair, and she doesn’t let go. The past few days she has been a big fan of this little bear, it is so sweet. Of course Deacon calls it her princess.