The Barnards

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.

Deacon was super excited about celebrating the new year. We made confetti and at hat for him to celebrate. He loves to do craft projects so I knew this would be right up his alley. All day he was gearing up for it but he was a bit confused and kept say, “Happy New York!” He is a bit into New York right now for some reason.

Anyway, we let Deacon ring in the New Year at 10:00.

He loved throwing the confetti over,

and over

and over. I think this went on for 30 minutes and even resumed the next day!

Bryan and I went out to eat for our 1st kid free dinner in months.  I actually think it has been since before Finley was born.  She is usually fussy in the evening and I really didn’t want to leave mom and dad to deal with that.  But after they kept insisting I finally decided we might as well.  When we first left she it was just Finley and my dad and we stood by the door for a few minutes but never heard any crying so we decided to leave.  I’m sure at some point she had a crying spell but of course they kept saying everything was good.  Thanks mom and dad for a much needed few hours out!

Love this sweet girl and her tutu, which she tried to get in her mouth the whole time she was wearing it.