Barker Family

One Year Photos of Evan

2012-02-11T15:13:00.002-07:00

Ethan's 1st Preschool Pic

2012-02-11T14:37:00.002-07:00

2012-01-24T10:53:00.002-07:00

Ethan's 4th Birthday!

2012-01-23T17:09:00.002-07:00

Evan's First Bath

2012-01-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

2012-01-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

Evan...again

2012-01-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Evan

2012-01-22T20:55:00.002-07:00

Christmas Kids

2011-12-17T13:40:00.003-07:00

I can't figure out why these won't rotate - but that is still one good lookin' Ethan

Cars 2 Day

2011-11-03T22:49:00.003-06:00

Ethan at T-ball

2011-11-03T17:30:00.002-06:00

Heber Valley Youngberg Reunion

2011-10-26T15:33:00.001-06:00

I am still waiting on the rest of the pictures to finish scrapbooking out reunion. My Aunt got some pictures of Ethan, Ellie, and myself on the zipline that I can't wait to see!

Ellie's 1st Hair Cut

2011-10-26T13:30:00.001-06:00

The First 8 Months

2011-10-22T13:58:00.001-06:00

A new post...what!?

2011-10-22T11:39:00.000-06:00

I have started digital scrapbooking. In an effort to simplify my life - this is how I will be blogging in the future. If you are my family, (Grandma Barrow) and usually pull some photos off my blog, I am going to start putting pictures on a DVD at the end of the year to mail out to you guys instead. So, you know you will get your disc around March...

2011-10-04T12:26:00.001-06:00

Holy cow! I can blog from my iPad now! I will updating from the summer along with a billion pictures so stay tuned!

Oh, Ellie!

2011-04-26T14:16:00.002-06:00

While Ethan is at school, I try to do one girly thing with just Ellie. Today we painted our nails. I did her fingers and toes in a beautiful red. She sat so still while I did them and then sat still while they dried. She never does that! They looked really good. This is what I foud after lunch.

Ellie had gotten into the downstairs bathroom, pulled a chair in there, gotten the polish (all three colors - red, blue, and pink), and proceeded to reapply all three colors to her fingers and toes. Apparently she needed another coat.

No spare surface was spared - not even her legs and arms.

Not even the toast. Our basement looked a murder mystery scene with red polish spattered everywhere.

Not even my capet was spared. My poor, poor carpet. The worst, of course, was the red polish. I immediately ran upstairs and grabbed my nail polish remover and some carpet cleaner. The nail polish remover said "harmful for furniture and clothes" but I figured it couldn't be worse than what was already there so I applied liberally. And yes, I scrubbed. Mistake? Yes! Now instead of red spots, I had red blurs on my carpet. Jacob was NOT going to be happy with me. (Which, you would think he would be mad at Ellie, but I can hear his words, "Where were you?" already echoing in my ears. A: eating lunch.) So next came the carpet cleaner - which does wonders on everything else; except nail polish. It DID NOT do ANYTHING

I called my Mom at work who suggested the same things I had already used and then typed it into google. She came up with a link to a video on UTube, which said not scrub (I know!!) but blot with hydrogen peroxide, which worked a tiny bit. But I still had this huge red path of red all over my carpet.

So, next we broke out the trusty old Baking Soda, made a pasty scrub and went to work. And believe it or not, it worked like a charm. You know, I see on the back of the box how it tries to tell you that it will clean EVERYTHING. Well, it turns out, that they are absolutely right. When even a product specifically made to remove nail polish works - go to the tried and true - Baking Soda. It worked like a charm.

There are still little specks of blue and red here and there but I am betting that if I don't tell Jacob, he won't notice! And since I am 99.9% certain he NEVER reads this blog, he may never find out that I attempted to eat lunch in peace today.

Evan

2011-04-25T15:33:00.005-06:00

Evan is growing like a tank and soon my arms are going to fall off. He was in the 10% when born and is now sporting an 80% size. At just over 14 lb. - he is heavy! We had to put all the 0-3 month clothes at 2 mo. old and are filling out the next batch quite well.

He is sleeping so incredibily well that I cannot complain at all. He goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up around 5 am for a quick milk snack and then sleeps till about 8 am. He takes 2 or 3 really good long naps every day and is just awesome in the napping department.

He is talking, smiling and I swear he is going to bust out a laugh any minute now!

Ellie

2011-04-12T05:14:00.000-06:00

Ellie is always one of two things: a cute little sweetheart and princess - or a wild cannon that may explode at any given moment. That girl can change in the flip of a second from please, thank you and hugs to biting, hitting, and screaming tantrums. Every morning is a guessing game with her.

She is starting to talk very well and picks up a lot of words from all kinds of places. Were watching Mulan the other day and she said, "What a concubine, Mama?". I didn't know what to say to her so I just said, "I don't know hunny!"

Ellie is an all out girlie girl who loves all things pink and frilly. She loves the dress-up box we got her for her birthday and totally cries when her nail polish starts to come off. We have to reapply frequently to avoid any bare nail exposure, heaven forbid.

Ellie is my little over zealous helper. One of her favorite new phrases is, "Can I help?!". One of her jobs is to throw away Evan's dirty diapers. She gets very upset if she misses an opportunity. She also lives helping load and unload the dishwasher.

Every morning one of the first things she says is, "Where's Evan?". If he is asleep she usually gets a grumpy kook and pouts away. If he is awake I get to hear, "I luf Evan!".

Jacob is severely worried that she is too pretty for her own good. And she knows it. With those blue eyes and all that blonde hair, not to mention an attitude to boot, she is going to be a handful.

Ethan

2011-04-07T16:50:00.000-06:00

Ethan is getting to be so big to me. He looks bigger, talks older, says the funniest (and weidest) things), and is getting to be such a good helper around the house.

He loves going to preschool and I love it when he comes home and is excited to tell me about his day. He gets a look with one eyebrow raised and is yet very serious at the same time while using hand signals that you cannot believe! He comes home and sings me songs like 5 Little Monkeys and I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee. He learned about dinosaurs this week and was so excited because he had two new dinosaur shirts his great grandma Barrow had given him so that he could "match" his lessons.

He is also in Sunbeams now! He really did not want to go at first. When he asked why he had to go to Primary instead of nursery I told him it was because he was getting older. His response was, "But I'm not old, Mom. I'm four". He really loves it now and really enjoys helping with sharing time. It was really fun for ke to go with him a few weeks ago to help him give his first little talk in Primary. He had given the prayer and Article of Faith before but a talk, now that was something. It was President Lee and the Holy Ghost. He did a very good job and spoke clearly and everything. I was so proud of him.

This summer we are going to attempt to take the training wheels off his bike. He so desperately wants to mountain bike like his Daddy he may just die!

He helped me plant the garden last weekend and is really excited to help more once it gets warmer. He is really getting to be such a good helper.

Life

2011-04-03T04:50:00.001-06:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Things have been so crazy around here. Not in a way that we have been going places or anything, just in a we have three kids and are trying to figure this out way.

Jacob finally put can lights in our front room! We had no lights before. Just a lamp on a switched outlet. It's so nice to be able to use that room - after the sun goes down. Now we are saving up to do more can lights in the kitchen and stairwell.

Jacob is transferring from the Brigham Post Office to Ogden on April 9th. We both loved him working in Brigham but due to a personnel change his hours are dropping. In Ogden, he will be a carrier and since he will be in the Ben Lomand area, it will only be about a 20 minute drive. He will be a carrier and so we are suiting him up with all kinds of Postal gear.

I have been trying desperately to maintain my sanity and order in the house. Everyone told me three was really hard. And it is. Not nearly as bad as they made it out to sound but it is hard - but I think it's hard because I'm always tired and therefore my already short patience may suffer a tad.

I am going to write three individual posts on the kids over the next week so keep an eye out for them!

Blue

2011-03-06T17:12:00.001-07:00

I just really like this picture. It really shows off his blue eyes and I think his cute little lips look just perfect - probably because he is perfect!!

Evan's Blessing Day

2011-03-06T17:07:00.001-07:00

One Month

2011-03-04T16:59:00.002-07:00

Evan is one month! Holy cow, he has actually grown. He was 6 lb. 15 oz. when he was born and at his two week appointment he weighed in at 6 lb. and 13oz. He is even bigger now. His knees aren't quite as wrinkely now.

My friend McKell at http://flapperfashions.etsy.com/ made this super cute owl beanie and a matching diaper cover for him. She is really good! You will have to check her out!

2011-01-29T14:36:00.002-07:00

Evan James Barker

January 28, 2011

6:24 pm

6 lb. 15 oz.

20.5 inches

Christmas Eve

2011-01-24T10:56:00.004-07:00

I am still trying to play catch-up on all my posts so you will have to excuse the two last Christmas updates!

Here are my lovelies on Christmas Even in their sweet new pajamas and slippers. It was all extra fun this year because they both understood how things were going to happen with Santa and the presents.

Ethan, of course, had to show off his Toy Story slippers.

We left cookies out for Santa on our fireplace. When Ethan woke up in the morning he ran out there and saw the empty plate. The first thing he did was turn and look at me and say, "Hey! Who ate the cookies!!". So I asked him, "Well, who do you think!?". His reply: "Daddy!". We had to explain that Santa was the one who ate the cookies. It was funny.

Here was Ellie's spread.

I found this kitchen for $6 and cleaned it up and added the vinyl. I think it turned out pretty darn good!

Ethan's spread.

This train was a huge hit too. We had this to go around our tree and both kids thought that was the coolest thing they had ever seen.

Ethan's Workout

2011-01-24T10:34:00.003-07:00

Jacob has been running on our treadmill at night and doing sit-ups, push-ups and just general stretches. Ethan feels as though this is "boy time" and must do everything Jacob does. Now, just to note, Jacob does not do any of this in his underwear like Ethan feels the need to. Jacob wears shorts!! But since Ethan was just wearing his underpants (Toy Story onces, of course) and a t-shirt, the shirt came off and this was the result!

Sit-ups are really hard when you are only four years old!

Push-ups are even harder. Especiall when it comes to keeping that cute little tush down.

And of course, touching your toes is easy when you have this wonderful posture going on!

And then he had to run on the treadmill too. Jacob stood by him and pushed all the buttons for him. He was going "super fast"! I think it was like 2 maybe 2 1/2 miles per hour. He had quite the workout.

and then these legs went straight to bed

because they were all tuckered out from their intense workout.

BOOTS!!

2011-01-24T10:17:00.002-07:00

My Grandma and Papa Barrow (or Grandma and Papa Pow, as the kids call them) were here for a few weeks around Christmas time. They absolutely and totally spoiled my kids. Toys, attention, treats, and these boots.

These were by far the best thing they have gotten. As I mentioned in a previous post, they are really into Toy Story. So Ethan was thrilled to have Woody boots and Ellie to have Jesse boots.

It just so happened that the next day at Ethan's preschool was his pajama party and his turn for show and tell. So he wore his Woody pajamas, his cowboy boots and took the remote control car they bought him for show and tell. He said he had the "BESTEST outfit" of all the kids.

Temple Square

2011-01-24T10:10:00.003-07:00

Of course every Christmas we visit Temple Square to see the lights. It is always so beautiful and the kids loved it this year.

I think this hat makes Ethan look like he has a "Brother Brigham" beard. But that's ok, it keeps him toasty warm!

I love Ellie's hat too. The Minnie ears are so her.

And every once in a while I can get a picture that shows that they actually do love each other.

I had to add this picture because if you look closely you will notice that Ethan is wearing MY gloves. We were at the Reflection Pool and we told him MANY MANY MANY times to not touch the water. Well, that went well. So his gloves were soaked and me and Jacob took turn sharing his gloves so our fingers didn't freeze either.

Christmas Clothes

2011-01-23T19:33:00.002-07:00

These were the best pictures I could get of the kids in their Christmas Church Clothes.

I made Ellie's dress. It is a peasant dress and turned out super cute.

I know you can't really see it in the picture so you'll just have to take my word on it.

Ethan was good lookin in his suit. And no...we did not take Iron Man to church with us. Just on the car to church and the way home.

Arm Pillows

2011-01-23T19:23:00.002-07:00

Ethan and Ellie have been watching Toy Story 2 lately. ALOT. We watch it everyday. And if I am feeling like a lazy pregnant lady - sometimes twice. Anyway, they pick up some of the weirdest things from movie. Phrases, actions, and then they turn them into their own little games and put their own spin on them. Well in the movie Woody climbs up on Bullseyes back and says "Upsa Daisy" while Bullseye pushes Woody up on to Al's stomach to stead his broken arm back.

One day I was in cooking dinner and they were in the fron room playing this new game. Except this time Ellie only made it half way up onto the back of the couch and Ethan went to help her over by yanking on her arm to hoist her over to the other side. Apparently he yanked way too hard and the next thing I heard was bloody screaming from Ellie. I thought she was fine so we waited, she was still crying, we waited some more, she was still crying. So finally I took her to the night clinic. They took X-rays and couldn't see anything but she was still very upset and wouldn't let anyone touch her arm.

So the Dr. put this half cast on her arm and sent us home with an appointment the next day to see a dr. who knew a little bit more about these kinds of things. We went back the next day and the dr.'s diagnosis: She is FINE!! Just a big weenie and really good at getting what she wants.

This is what really made her feel better during her time of distress. I have no clue what they were watching but as long as she was sitting with her Papa Pow she was happy. She called her cast her "arm pillow" and actually cried when we took it off after the second dr. appointment

Onions

2011-01-23T19:19:00.005-07:00

My mom and I canned salsa this year. Ethan so desperately wanted to help that we let him help cut the onions. As much as his eyes watered he thought it was the funnest thing to help.

He did a good job.

He is an awesome helper.

2010-12-08T08:14:00.003-07:00

oh, and by the way - my awesome friend McKell is having a giveaway for her Flapper Fashions. She is really good so make sure you check it out her out. She is over here today doing her giveaway!!

http://www.firefliesandhummingbirds.net/2010/12/ho-ho-ho-liday-giveaway-flapper.html

2010-12-08T08:06:00.002-07:00

We moved the kids back into their own rooms and looking for a good play yard that has a bassinet and changing table in it for our bedroom. It was not worth my sanity.

Bedtime

2010-11-28T20:04:00.002-07:00

In preparation for the new baby, we decided to move Ethan and Ellie into the same room together. Now apart, they are little angel children. Taking naps and going right to bed at night as well. Together, they are naughty children from the dark side of the moon.

They play all night long, don't sleep in, and then are terrors all day long. One might wonder, do I feel like a bad mom - saying that my children are terrors?? Yes, I do. But that is honestly the only way to describe them on lack of sleep. Not to mentiong (and my dad would surely agree) patience has never been a gift that I posses.

Our kids go to bed at 8:00 p.m. and that is not something that Jacob and I are willing to move just to make our kids more sleepy before bedtime. But at the same time - does anyone out there have any suggestions as how to get them to just GO TO BED!!

We have a bedtime routine that we have been doing forever. Pajamas, brushing teeth, prayers, and stories. So a routine isn't our problem. And they don't necessarily get out of bed either. Every once in a while that does happen but it's not our main problem right now. The problem is that they are just in there playing. Talking, jumping in bed, playing with the lights/lamps, throwing books at one another and just plain goofing around.

We have tried reading to them lengthy stories but the playing is still going one after a month of sharing a room. We have tried putting them in timeout for goofing around. We have tried spanking - and yes, mom, we spank hard enough that it hurts. But we don't necessarily feel like that is the best solution either. But nothing else we can find, read, think of, or create in our heads is working. We don't want to be putting Ellie to bed early and let Ethan stay up a bit until she asleep, or have them fall asleep in seperate rooms and then move them together. I just want them to be perfect little children and fall asleep immediately when I tell them to!!

So seriously, before I feel like an utter failure as a mother would someone please tell me how this is done! I am beyond my wits end and need some kind of solution.

2010-11-08T12:49:00.003-07:00

Oh my children. It seems like the last few months my children have exploded. You might wonder...exploded? Yes exploded, both of them. I swear over the last month we have spent more time in time out than we have out of time out. Both of them have started sassing, yelling, screaming, hitting, kicking, and flat out being normal little kids.

Where did my perfect children go? Who took them!?!? I want them back.

Please, if you have any information on the location of these two loving children - contact me as soon as possible. They are loved and missed very much. We know they are out there somewhere and would really like to have them home

Leaves

2010-11-08T12:30:00.004-07:00

We have lots of leaves

Perfect for jumping in

Perfect for a soft landing (note the rain boots - he really likes them)

I'm not sure why she is so concerned

Maybe it's because she is really sitting next to Ethan who keeps shoving her into the leaves and trying to bury her in them. You would never guess that he would ever do such a thing from this picture. But it is true...promise.

They actually do like each other. By the way, Ellie is smiling, not dying.

She really is a peach, this girl.

Carving Pumpkins

2010-11-08T12:29:00.001-07:00

Of course we carved pumpkins! We try to do it just a few days before actual Halloween because otherwise we have to light them for a month beforehand. I let the kids pick out what they wanted. I just showed them a couple on line and let them pick from two or three that I thought would be pretty simple for Jacob and myself to do.

Ethan picked Mickey Mouse.

Ellie picked Cinderella

I actually carved a pumpkin too. I did Jack. Like Jack, the Pumpkin King. Anyway, Jacob was a big nerd and went to play basketball instead of carve a pumpkin with his wife. Party pooper.

Halloween at the Barkers

2010-11-08T12:28:00.001-07:00

We all stopped in at Jacob's parents for our trick-or-treating. This is the Molgards. They are always really good to dress up with their kids. I am not.

Grandma Barker gave us all these lovely glasses. Abbi is a great model for them.

We have cute cousins.

And cute kids ourselves.

Trick-or-Treat

2010-11-08T12:07:00.003-07:00

Here is my sweet Batman and Cinderella outside Grandma Youngberg's house before we left to go door to door. Ellie is in love with suckers. I couldn't get her to put it down for pictures.

Again with the sucker.

Batman was old enough this year that he was really excited to be knocking on doors. He apparently had a game plan. He would ring the door bell and knock twice on EVERY door. It didn't matter how many times we told him he didn't need to knock, he did. He was going to make sure that everyone knew he was ready to get his candy. We had to keep telling him to slow down and wait for his sister because he kept running from door to door so fast.

This was before we left our house. Ellie's tiara didn't make it out the door. (disregard the dirty fireplace screen - I quit cleaning it last year. It is just pointless to try and keep little fingers off of it.)

Me and my friends had a little party for our kids the Friday before. Here they are all lined up - and so happy too. This was the best picture we could get of all of them

Cute Kaylee enjoyed coloring while waiting for her pizza to cook. Every time I tried to take a picture of her - she just glared at me. I promise she really does like me, for real.

Cinderella colored too. She will do anything that Kaylee will do. Kaylee however often looks at Ellie with a look like, "You are crazy". When Ellie does things like jump down the stairs from half way up, or atempt things at the park that even Ethan won't do. Kaylee is probably right, Ellie is crazy, but we love her.

I (HEART) Shutterfly

2010-11-04T15:22:00.003-06:00

Did I ever mention that I love Shutterfly?? They always have great deals on photos and they have amazing photo book offers that I can never pass up. But I also love that they do card designs as well. Every Christmas I walk down the aisles and look at the Christmas cards and decide...that they are ugly. I can never find any that I truly love and really want to spend my money on. And then I look at these from Shutterfly and just fall in love!

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

And every year my husband's family gets together and makes a calendar of pictures made of the grandkids for his parents. How awesome are these!

http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars

And lastly how could I not love any of these cards for a sweet new little baby. I think I need them all. Any one of these would be absolutely perfect for our little one coming in January!

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/birth-announcements

I (HEART) Shutterfly

Photo Op

2010-10-04T21:31:00.007-06:00

Aunt Melissa took the photos - I photo-shopped them.

HU???

2010-09-24T15:43:00.000-06:00

What have we been up to, you may ask. Nothing. Seriously. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. Jacob started his new job here in Brigham last Monday and since then we have mostly been adjusting to his ever changing schedule and trying to get used to having him around more. It's weird. Not that I wish he was gone but he sure does mess up our routine around here. Anyway, I am desperately trying to get the house cleaned. Not just cleaned like dishes and laundry done but cleaned like going through every tote in storage and cataloging it. Yea, fun, I know. Anyway, I will post again when something fun actually does happen!

First Day of Preschool

2010-09-08T13:08:00.003-06:00

What a big boy. Going to school and everything. Yesterday was his first day. Monday night we gave him his backpack and and his little supplies and he ran around for a good 20 minutes with it on. He was in heaven. The morning of his first day he had to go through his backpack just to make sure it was still all there. Thank goodness it was.

I think Ellie just wanted to go back to bed.

We let him pick out the clothes that he wanted to wear and this what he chose. His shirt has a fish on it and it says "Catch of The Day".

We also let him pick his backpack. This is what he chose.

He could not have been more excited!

Ellie was excited too but I don't think she knew why...

Ethan had a great time and was so sad to be leaving after class was done. He goes twice a week for a couple of hours. He already knew one his teachers from his swimming lessons so I think that helped him feel more comfortable. When Jacob and I took him there that morning he didn't even bother to give us a hug or a kiss or nothing. He was ready to get down to business and for us to leave. He is all grown up.

Fishing at Spirit Lake

2010-09-08T12:59:00.007-06:00

Fishing at Spirit Lake was so fun. Besides the fact that Ellie ran down every steep slope toward the water she could find...the kids were really good.

This is how Ellie felt most of the morning...like screaming. Awesome.

But we still love her.

Here are the boys trying to decide if they have a bite or not. I promise that even though Ethan looks a little glum, he actually had a blast.

At first Ellie was a little bit worried about the fish.

Then she would "shhh" it.

And then she forgot all about it and started cheesin' it up or the camera.

It was very pretty.

I am convinved that this is why my kids like fishing.

We cought five but one got away. Ethan was very proud of his catch.

This was the best family picture I could get. Ethan is looking who knows where and Ellie is playing Peek-a-boo. Atlease I caught her with her hands open on this one.

And this is the best I could do trying to get Ellie touching the fish. She would put her little finger on it then squeal and jump back. It was very cute.

This was our view at sunset of the mountains outside our trailer while camping. Very pretty.

Ethan's favorite part about camping is by far...S'mores. How could it not be?

For once, a calm Ellie.

They were both wild we were there. They love being outdoors.

Poor Ethan was sooo tired on the way home. See the bubbles??

Ellie found my make-up bag when got home and we were cleaning up. and all of a sudden she got very quiet untill Daddy discovered her. Now, I promise that she is not in pain from the mascara in her eyes. She is screaming wildly because Daddy took it away.

Isn't it good to be home

Picnic at ATK

2010-09-07T21:36:00.006-06:00

We went on a picnic at the Rocket Garden at ATK, where Grandpa and Grandma Youngberg work. Here is Grandma trying to "teach" the kids a little something about the rockets. Good luck grandma.

This is how Ellie puts on her sunglasses. Very rarely do they end up on the right way.

Seriously, they are huge rockets.

Tall too...

They had one segment that the kids could run through. This was by far the funnest part of all. Ellie was in heaven. Absolute heaven.

Cute kids

Mid-jump. She jumped alot.

Ethan kept trying to climb up the side.

I think this face says it all. They had fun.

Fishing in Wellsville

2010-09-07T21:32:00.002-06:00

We love to go fishing in Wellsville. It's only about 25 minutes away and there is a lot of grassy areas for the kids to sit while we wait for our fish.

This was Ellie's first "real" fishing trip. We had gone last year but she was too little. This year she had her own little pole and everything. And I promise, despite this what this picture shows, I do comb her hair.

That is her Cinderella pole - which she LOVES

We never actually put her line in the water because she kept trying to run off with her pole. So she would just sometimes stand there facing the water with her pole and then run around crazy - poking everyone and thing in sight.

Grandpa and Grandma Barker came with us too and Grandpa gave Ethan a few tips on fishing while they were hanging out.

While Daddy helped Ellie to not fall into the water. It was quite the job.

Swimming Lessons

2010-09-07T21:21:00.003-06:00

This was the first year we took Ethan to swimming lessons. We took him to The Peak and we both think they did an excellent job and we are definitely going back next year and enrolling Ellie as well.

At first he wouldn't even lay his head back in the water. By the end of his two week session he was going all the way back!

They taught him to use "arrow arms" and at first this was all he would do.

Then the teacher would make him go under water a little bit...

And then she would have to keep making him...

But by the end, he was putting his face in the water all his by himself and doing awesome!

And above everything else - he had tons of fun.

He always thought it was funny to try and splash me. Ha, ha, ha.

Trains

2010-09-07T21:12:00.005-06:00

Every summer the Union Pacific has a very cool program where you can ride a train for free. And we did!! This train to be exact. The coaches are very comfortable and even had foot rests that extended so much that you could lay down. Way more comfortable than any plane I had every been - and no turbulance!

This was our train.

Here is cute little Ellie chillin' while we wait for the train to come. She is such a cheeser.

She thought it was awesome to just look out the window...and it was.
It is a different view than from the highway.

But then she got a little sleepy...

Ethan too...

2010-08-18T17:47:00.002-06:00

I promise that I have actually taken some pictures but I am just way too tired to post them right now! We went on picnic out to ATK by the rocket garden that the kids absolutely loved. I did take pictures and will post them...one day. We have been a little busy lately and Jacob is just a tad bit stressed.

A job opened up in the Brigham City Post Office, which is what we have been waiting for. BUT - it very part-time and there is no way of knowing when a full-time position will open up. If he takes the job it means no more commuting but having to find another job that will work around and with the one at the Post Office. He wants it but is concerned about finances and having to cut a lot of things out of our lives. And I don't just mean eating out I mean TV, Phones, Life Insurance, and various other things that will have to go if we take this job. Anyway, if you know of anyone who is just giving away money - would you let them know we are interested!?!?

2010-08-06T19:36:00.003-06:00

I wasn't about to spend 19 hours downloading all those Disneyland pictures so there is the slideshow so all of you, Mom, will quit bugging me about them! Also, I am pregnant. Number three will be coming no later than January 31, 2011!

2010-08-06T19:24:00.001-06:00

2010-05-18T13:08:00.001-06:00

So we have been back from Disneyland for about a week and a half now and still no pictures. I'm working on it!!

Ethan gets his tonsils out this Friday so we are gearing up for that. We are hoping it solves some of our illness problems. We spend nearly $150 on the doctor each month. It will be nice to actually start saving that money.

I'll get the pictures and story up soon

Promise.

Coloring Eggs

2010-04-03T14:13:00.005-06:00

I'm too tired to dictate. We had fun. Ethan loved it. Ellie ate some foam packaging. The eggs were cute. I know it's only eight o'clock but I'm going to get me some Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, watch my oh-so favorite show - Chuck. And then go to bed so the ice cream can soak into all the wrong places.

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-03T14:06:00.004-06:00

Brigham City puts on an Easter Egg hunt every year. They divide them into age groups and then just lay out thousands and thousands of eggs. I have never seen so many eggs in my life.

The eggs are empty and then when the hunt is over you take your bag to the table and turn the eggs in for a HUGE cup full of candy. That way everyone gets the same amount of candy, even the kids with the pushy parents shoving eggs in their one year olds basket only get one cup of candy.

Ellie was surprisingly good to wait untill it was time to start.

Ethan was too. It's hard to wait when the eggs are laid out there in front you like that!

This was Ellie's first Easter Egg Hunt.

They were just too excited. We were waiting for Grandma and Grandpa Great Youngberg to come and play with us on our hunt.

Ethan liked to watch the other kids take pictures with the unusually large, creepy, funny looking Easter bunny but he would not go anywhere near him. I don't blame him - it was kina creepy.

Ethan knew exactly what to do and went to town picking up eggs right and left.

I'm guessing he had a good twenty eggs within two minutes

It took Ellie a little bit longer - but this was her first time. And those gloves probably don't help either.

She was such a cutie pite once she got the hang of it.

She started sqealing every time she got to put some eggs in her cute little bag.

Thanks for helping Grandma and Grandpa Great!

A Party!

2010-04-03T13:30:00.006-06:00

Our little friend Emmeline had her third birthday party on Friday. The kids had a blast!

Here is my sweet little Ellie girl with her party blower. She didn't know how to use it so she just blowed and hummed at the same time.

Ethan on the other hand definitely knew how to use it.

Our cute little friend Kaylee. Her and Ellie are just two months apart so we like to hang out with her.

I took this picture at the party and just thought it was cute. So...since this is my blog...I added it.

The Birthday Girl, Emmeline, is on the left while our other little friend, Lucy, is onthe right.

Emmeline is an awesome little and thanks for inviting us!

Cupcakes were one of the highlights of the party, of course.

Kaylee went to town. She had frosting E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E.

Emmeline - enjoying her cupcake as well.

Ethan was determined to get every last drop of frostin of his little face!

And they also had an Easter egg hunt. Ethan loved the candies inside. He had them all eaten before we got back inside.

Projects

2010-04-01T09:36:00.006-06:00

This is Ellie's Easter dress. I have never done smocking before was very worried how it would turn out. Just so happens that it isn't difficult. Just takes time. A LOT OF TIME.

These are their Easter bags I made. I am one of "those people" who actually buys their kids presents for Easter. I knew someone who bought their kids a new bike every year. My kids get chalk, bubbles, a few treats from me. Grandmas are another matter that I do not take credit for. (My kids don't get things for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's, the 4th of July, or President's Day either!!!)

Anyway, they do get a small basket but since they don't get that untill Sunday, I needed something for all our hunts that came before then. I found this adorable fabric by Moda and had to have it. I am using my leftovers from this project plus some others for a sweet SPRING banner that I am working on too.

I am making these flower balls for Ellie's room. I am sure you guys have seen them everywhere by now but let me tell you - they take forever to make.

I have one done out of three. One small, medium, and large ball. I have the small one done.

Oh my, maybe they will be done by her 16th birthday!!

2010-03-30T20:42:00.006-06:00

Our trip to Vegas was so much fun!! I hadn't really ever been there before so we tried to see everything. Well...not everything - just the good stuff!

This sign was really cool. It is by the Vegas airport and has been their icon for like 60 years. While we were there was a line of wedding guests with the brides and grooms that had been married that day. I think we saw two or three new couples while we were there. By the way - we checked every where we went. That is not real grass. Most of the hotels don't have real grass either.

We left super early on Firday morning. Around 4 a.m. and drove through a snow storm and ended up in 75 degree weather! We left early hoping that the kids would fall right back to sleep and sleep most of the way. Hmmm...sounds like a good plan right?!?! Ethan refused to fall asleep. He took maybe a 15 minute nap but then we had to stop for gas. Once we got to the hotel he was just a little lump on the bed. Poor kid was tuckered out.

Ethan had this great desire to wear Grandma's sunglasses. Normally he doesn't look so goofy but he had just taken his hat off. I love the hat hair, glasses, and cheeser smile.

Ellie spent alot of time in the stroller.
Usually she was fine with it and just enjoyed watching all the other poeple and flashing lights.

Other times she did not enjoy it at all.

There were so many stinking people there it was ridiculous. It is possible (and by possible I mean it for sure happened) that me and my mom got totally lost trying to figure out where to park. There are no parking lots! Oh, and then we realized that you can park in any hotel parking lot for free! Eh, we only realized that after an hour of driving around, cutting poeple off, close calls, and a few swear words later. Because there was so much traffic they had built these walk ways over every intersection. Which was kind of nice. But they were so crowded. And then you added the poeple sitting on the sides with their cups for change or selling water or something. There was one guy who I thought was really funny. Most people's sings said something like, "Homeless and Hungry", "Hungry Veteran", or something like that. But this one guys just said, "Why lie? I need a beer." I thought it was pretty funny!!

The kids enjoyed looking over the ledge at all the cars that were going by underneath them. It was cooler at night when their lights were on.

This was Friday night on the strip. Ellie was wearing her squeky shoes and loved walking around in them. To say the least, we got a few looks and laughs. There was an outdoor mall with a hurge screen playing an IPhone commercial over and over again. It was to a song by Franz Ferdinand, No You Girls. She loved and wanted to do nothing but dance. It was hilarious to watch her bob her little butt up and down for atleast 10-15 minutes.

She's a good dancer you know.

This was Ethan's favorite hotel. He thought it was a real castle

and wanted to know where the dragon was.

We were there in time to see a show outside Treasure Island Hotel. The pirates were cool and it was fun to see all the effects they had. Funny though - there were barely any poeple watching the pirates boat with fully clothed men. but over at the Siren's boat with scantily scad women you could barely get through the walkway. Hmmmm....

Another favorite store. What little kid wouldn't love this place?

The MGM Grand had this aquarium, like four or five of them but Ethan really liked this one. It had a Dori fish. Like Dori from Finding Nemo. He thought that was awesome.

This was just outside the M&M Store. He was a little worried about these guys but they were really nice talking to him and asking him old he was and his name and everything. Yoda was on the corner too.

This was Ethan's favorite part of the MGM. He thought these lions were amazing. He couldn't get enough of them. As a matter of fact - we couldn't pull him away fast enough to find a bathroom. Here I am running with my three year old boy all around the dang hotel trying to find a bathroom. I couldn't see a single employee to ask and no signs anywhere! By this time he is definitely doing "the dance".

I finally find a ladies room and rush in - all stalls are full - there is a line.

Are you kidding me!!!

Who puts only three stalls in a ladies room?!?!?!?!

One stall empties and the lady who was in the front of line let us go in front her. She must have been a mom. She was very nice.

I really enjoyed the Bellagio. We were just walking by when the show started to a Frank Sanatra song. They were really loud but holy cow - really cool too.

This alligator is at the MGM. It was in water with smoke around it and such and then every now and then it would growl and snap. Ethan didn't think it was too cool untill I told him that if he feed him a penny he would eat him. There were other coins in there too. he pitched it in and made it right in his mouth. He wasn't too worried after that. Ellie on the other hand. My mom is laughing because Ellie is just a little concerned about the alligator.

We had a ton of fun and will probably go back next year when Jacob goes mountain biking again.

Golden Spike

2010-03-30T20:27:00.003-06:00

So...the other day I was really, REALLY, bored. So I called my mom up and asked if she wanted to drive out to Golden Spike with me and the kids and let them run wild.

Now, I'm not quite sure why...but she said yes. So off we went. I DO NOT remember Promontory Point being that far out in the middle of nowhere. But it is.

It is really far out there. If any of you out there do not know, that is where

the East and West Railroads finally met. Smack dab in the middle of nowhere in Utah.

So as for a celebration they drove a golden spike into the last rail to celebrate that the

railroad was finally finished. Connecting both borders of America.

Every year on May 10th, there is a huge re-enactment with the Jupter and 119 Trains

and it is packed full of people every year.

This is just a cute little sign they have when you are near the visitor's center.

I am not sure why Ethan is making such an odd face but I still love him anyway!

Before you get to Golden Spike there is an old train station that is still there. This is it.

Do you see that old wall behind Ethan? That is it. There is nothing left -

just some rotten wood that is barely taller than a three year old

but Ethan thought it was fun.

Oh, and here is my little "Club Hollywood" look as I like to call it. She loves those sunglasses.

So much so that she is wearing them inside the museum in this picture.

She is such a diva.

She may be a diva but she is also a little sweetie.

Ethan is sitting on the last rail laid and the one where the golden spike was set.

Man. Would you get an eye full of those two cute kids! Since it is stinking freezing the trains weren't out while we were there. So we just ran up and down the train tracks. Safe, I know.

Ethan definitely had a blast though. He loves trains and I am hoping that we can take

him out there this May 10th. We get back from Disneyland on the 8th so it might

be cutting it a little close when it comes to my sanity. Hopefully I can keep it together though. He would absolutely love it!

Ellie played with markers

2010-03-30T20:22:00.001-06:00

I have nothing else to say

Bootleg #2

2010-03-30T19:49:00.002-06:00

So, Jacob had gonet o Bootleg in February with his brother and then when they wanted to go again in March, I said "Sure!". The catch was that I got to go with them as well. So we packed up the kids and headed off for a wonderfully busy time in Vegas.

This first picture is of him in Bootleg Canyon. That is just outside of Boulder City, Nevada,

where we stayed. I wasn't allowed to take many picture of him jumping because

they are pretty jumps and apparently having me there with my camera is too much pressure. He actually did a HUGE jump while I was there and I did get to see him do it but

I wasn't allowed to photo him. He is silly that way. The last time I watched him bike

and videod him he crashed pretty good. Sorry hunny!

Our cute kids with their Daddy. On our way we stopped in Virgin, Utah to do some biking too. This is where they hold the Red Bull Rampage - the mountain biking world championship.

Now they don't anything as crazy as those guys but they do some pretty big jumps.

Ethan's favorite part was riding on Daddy's bike. Ellie's favorite part was trying to eat the dirt! You can tell that her face is absolutely caked in dirt.

Ever since this trip Ethan has asked to go mountain biking with his Daddy. So they are doing some construction near our house so they go ride through the rocks on his bike and that is Ethan "mountain bikes"!

I just think this picture is cute of Ethan wearing Jacob's helmet and goggles!

Really!?!?

2010-02-26T13:46:00.006-07:00

Yes it's been a while. I have been, shall we say...LAZY! I haven't been lazy in all categories, just in the blogging one. I have got quite a few things done as a matter of fact. We went sledding, Ethan had his third birthday (a big deal might I add!), Jacob went on a mountain biking trip, we are planning another trip for May (Disneyland!), and then there is all the other crazy things that take up time in my life.

I am sewing an Easter dress for Ellie and as soon as it is done I will post some pictures. This is the first time that I have ever done a dress like this so I hope it turns out! I have several other crafty projects going on so when those are done I hope to post them on here as well.

First - sledding

Next came Ethan's Birthday which was a total blast and he loved every minute!

We made brownies

Ellie was there too...

Then we had a rocket test firing out at ATK with Grandma and Grandpa Youngberg. They LOVED it. This is the last test firing for this type of rocket.

Also, Jacob took a mountain biking trip to Bootleg Nevada, just outside of Vegas.

Coming soon: Our trip to Vegas, more mountain biking, Golden Spike park, Elllie's Easter dress, and so much randomness it's killing me!! Soon though, I promise

2010-02-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

Another day at the doctor's office - another diagnosis. Ellie has tonsilitis...again. We would get them taken out but you can't before they are 2. Apparently they will grow back if you don't get them all out and before 2 they are too small to get them all out. Awesome.

2010-01-31T20:17:00.001-07:00

Today was Fast Sunday in our ward. Next week is stake conference so they moved it up a week.

Usually fast and testimony meeting is difficult for me. Not because of the fasting, or the sometimes odd stories you hear but because I have two little children who depend on the hymn between talks to stay entertained. This week was awesome.

My wonderful three year old Ethan was just begging to go up and bear his testimony. He definitely had ants in his pants. He kept asking after every person if it was his turn yet. It took me a couple of people to day yes just because I was trying to compose myself for going up there.

Finally we made it up there and he whispered every little word that I whispered into his ear.

It was the best Sunday ever.

2010-01-30T09:57:00.001-07:00

We are going to Disneyland in May!! I haven't been in so long I can hardly remember it. But, with Disney comes crowds. We have been teaching Ethan what to do and say if he gets lost.

He knows his full name and we are working on where he lives. His address is still too hard but the we are working on the city and state unfortunately our city also has a difficult name!

Today I gave him a whistle (he calls it a "hissle"). And taught him what to do if he gets lost. He blows his whistle and yells for mama and daddy. He is also supposed to find a police man and take off his shoes.

They make these wonderful stickers for kids shoes that go on their insoles. That way their information is readily available but hidden. I highly reccomrnd getting some or just making your own with Avery labels. The Avery ones aren't as sticky and therefore don't last as long but great for a trip or outing.

But the purpose of this post is how upset this whole process is making me. I don't plan on losing any child...ever. But planning for the just in case moments makes my heart ache.

Laundry or Nakedness, and other randomness

2010-01-29T07:20:00.007-07:00

I got a new program for Cricut today and I just have to say that I love the guts out of it already. Sure Cuts A Lot is the best program out there. I used to have a die cut machine - you know those ancient things where you had to do it all by hand. I thought that was the best invention ever. Boy was I wrong!! With Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) I can cut anything I can find on the internet. Any font, any picture, any thing I want!!! It's possible that I have already gone a little crazy and vinylized (I don't think that's a real word) a few things. I found this for my laundry room and it totally puts into words how I feel about doing laundry

Laundry Today

---------or--------

Naked Tomorrow

Of course, I have it in a much cuter font - but still! Laundry is my nemisis. Every time I try to sit down and fold laundry something more fun beckons me. My scrapbooking, sewing, cleaning fetish, or I simply get too engrossed into my television show. It is possible that there has been a wekk or two where we have lived out of baskets because of my unwillingness to fold laundry.

I had the opportunity last night to referee two YW Girls Basketball games last night. One of them was my own ward's team (two girls showed up so we borrowed a few from the other team) and the next one was another ward where I was friends with the coach. It was horrible. Not in the sense that the girls were bad or anything - but in the sense that it was utter madness. I found myself wondering if that was how I looked back in the day.

I thought we had decent talent in our ward when it came to the sports department in my day. Two of us went on to play High School basketball. Three of us played competitve league softball. And a few of the others weren't so bad either. But then there were a couple of girls last night who definitely thought they were good too. Was that what I looked like?!? Probably. I have been out of Young Womens for almost ten years now. Ten years!!

I still feel like I belong in Young Womens.

My husband's new church calling is Young Men's Basketball. He says they aren't the hot side either. I believe one of the men in our ward said that they it looked as though all our YM had come straight out of Napolean Dynamite. Do people just not play sports anymore! Jacob swears these kids have done nothing but play nintendo their entire lives. How can that be possible?!

Though we do have two gaming consoles in our home they are rarely used. Jacob grew up with nintendo in his home and he had alot of fun playing with his brothers and friends. BUT - he played a ton of sports too. He played basketball, baseball, and biked most days and definitely more than he played nintendo. Something seems a little backwards these days. Is it just me?

2010-01-23T09:20:00.002-07:00

Does anybody else out there always have the urge to spend money!! It seems to me that everything I can think of doing, wether it's for me, the kids, or the family, costs money!! Not that we don't have a few dollars to spend but I would really just like to find some fun things to do with my kids and family that cost me precious coins.

Any ideas out there?

On a separate note - Jacob's eye is totally and completely healed.

Ellie is no longer allowed to fly airplanes.

This week I am trying to create a reversible "Happy Birthday" banner with some lovely fabric I have laying around. One side is boy colored and the other side is girl colored. I have everything cut out except my stitch witchery for the letters (hopefully that will get done during nap time). Ethan's birthday is Feb 7th so I need to have it done by then. I hope it turns out!

Jacob and I have had a New Years goal of exercising. We even bought a new treadmill with our Christmas money. We each run or jog (walking briskly counts too) atleast a mile a day. This had been going on for three weeks now. I have lost two pounds. Now I know that losing weight takes time and building up that metabolism will take forever but geesh. I have no patience to begin with!! Let alone when it comes to self improvement!! My butt is no tighter now than when I started. But I must say - I am doing better than my mom

(who I am in competition with). She has lost 0. Then again she is 50.

Not much to brag about - beating a 50 year old when I have only lost 2 pounds!!

It has been slowing like crazy for about the last week. Our house is in the back a cultesac so when they come plow they push all of the snow up onto our front yard. We have a huge mountain of snow about 10 feet high. About a week ago we "made" steps up the side and made into our own personal sledding hill. Now we don't have to go anywhere to go sledding.

Ethan loves it.

Also, it seems that we have lost our camera. I am definitely upset about it but secretly happy as well. I have wanted a new camera ever since my kids started moving. All of my pictures of them are blurs. I am hoping that this will get me that new camera I want! but untill that happens there will be no pictures here!

An Airplane...

2010-01-17T15:34:00.003-07:00

Poor Jacob. Really though, poor Jacob. This last Tuesday he was being a good Daddy. Playing with his kid. Being at the bottom of the 'doggie pile' when we had an accident. An actual accident. A plane accident. While at the bottom of the doggie pile, Ellie was off flying a little toy airplane we have. When we got this plane the nose tip was as sharp as sharp could be. I took it outside and promptly rubbed it on the driveway to dull the tip. It was a good thing too! Ellie came closer and closer untill...she flew the airplane right into Jacob's eye. He didn't blink or anything. He never thought she would actually fly into his eye!!

It's possible he swore and then ran into the bathroom to check out his eye. He couldn't even open his eye at all. We ran to the eye doctor's on the other side of town where we were informed that Jacob had three large scratches on the center of his eye. He patched him and sent us home saying that the only thing to do is wait untill it gets better. He had to keep both eyes closed because the light was too much for him to handle. He slept pretty much the rest of the day.

I know it's a horrible picture but I can't find my camera and I had to use my phone!

It took three days before he could open his eye enough to see and even then we kept the lights dim and if we outside he had to wear my sunglasses!

Ellie is no longer allowed to fly airplanes!!

Christmas

2010-01-02T14:17:00.003-07:00

I didn't get too many pictures of us actually opening our gifts because we were well...
busy! Both kids a ton of fun and Santa went all out this year.
I love that Ethan is getting old enought to understand Christmas and we tried

very hard to make sure that he knew that Christmas was actually for Jesus.
We'll see how well that indoctrination actually worked when next year rolls around.

2009-12-31T09:00:00.001-07:00

The joys of toilet training...

Ethan is ready. I know he is. Somewhere deep inside he knows he is too. He has been out of diapers officially for two weeks now. He does really well going "Number 2" in the toilet but for some reason is struggling with wetting. He does really well one day and then pees everywhere the next. And by everywhere I mean just that. McDonalds restrooms (standing infront of the toilet), the hallway right infront of his bedroom (staring at the bathroom), kitchen floor, the basement. You name and it's wet it seems like.

Um very frustrated and trying hard not to show it when I have to change his clothes yet again. He is doing well though, really well I think. He wakes up every morning dry! And then walks in the hallway and let's loose!! Just another joy of parenthood I guess.

2009-12-22T10:53:00.003-07:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS

FROM THE BARKERS

How adorable are my kids. I love them to death

and hope that they have the most wonderful Christmas ever!

And to sweet, adorable Ellie - who couldn't love you!

You are so sweet and give the most amazing hugs I have ever had!

Ethan - you are the light in our house. Always ready to laugh and play games.

That cheeser smile gets me every time.

Time?

2009-12-18T18:37:00.006-07:00

Where did all the time go? I don't know - don't ask me!

We have been oh so busy, doing what though, I know not. Here are a few pictures of our happenings though!

Our Ward had a Christmas Breakfast in the beginning of September. Santa was there! Ellie was happy to get up there and let him know how she felt about him.

Ethan did not cry. Which really suprised me. He is getting much better with Santa and is ver excited for him to bring him "helicopters and trains!".

After the Christmas Party we went to Walmart. Santa was there too! So...we saw him again.

On Saturday, December 12th, we had a monster of a snow storm. Ethan was excited that we had to go and shovel the walk. Since Jacob was at work it was up to the three of us to get it done. Ethan had a blast!

Ellie looked the kid from the Christmas Story. I had to prop her up against the wall for this picture, otherwise she would just fall backwards!

And yes, it was her birthday, so I did let her eat the snow! She had a blast. It was also snowing the day she was born and the day we brought her home as well.

Ethan was a big helper with shoveling the snow. He worked his little tush off and then took a wonderful nap

What a cute girl in her puffy pink coat!

And this picture captures Ethan to a T, I think. All his character!

On Sunday we had a little party for our girl. She has grown up so fast that I can hardly believe it. And no, I don't believe in having my children wear clothes! Actually, she had just gotten done with her dinner so....

She thoroughly enjoyed all her presents

Tinkerbell is her favorite

She wasn't so sure about the cake at first. I like how no one is paying attention except me!

She enjoyed getting messy but she didn't really eat any of it.

And then she chilled with Great Grandpa Youngberg. Both of my kids love their Greats because they know who to go to for the good stuff. Like cookies and ice cream.

What a cute girl ( I mean Ellie!)

And of course - she loves the bunny that she got from her Great Grandma Pow. It plays the same song that Ethan's puppy used to play before puppy became "well loved".

Santa!

2009-11-24T09:57:00.003-07:00

Ok, all you fellow mom's out there. I need to find a Santa!

Here in good old Brigham City they set up Christmas Village every year downtown. And last year I was in the hospital having Ellie when Santa came to visit all the kids. My parents took Ethan last year but this is the first year he REALLY knows what is going on. So I checked out the paper and Santa is only coming once. Saturday morning after Thanksgiving. Which is fine, we will be home but...Jacob has to work! Jacob has never been able to see Ethan go see Santa. He said that I could still take him because he wants Ethan to see him for sure wether or not he can be there. Jacob's work schedule is pretty packed - he is working about 60 hrs. a week so I hoping that there is some Santa out there that is available. If any of you guys know where Santa will be - even if they charge to see him - please let me know.

We are willing to travel to Salt Lake so that Jacob can see! I also heard that Santa comes to Mantua but I can't remember when or anything.

Please HELP!

2009-11-12T06:58:00.004-07:00

Yesterday the whole family went to I Street in Salt Lake to see Jacob and his brother Phillip mountain bike. We haven't been able to see him ride in quite a while because it is hard for the kids to not run crazy outside!

It was nice though. Ethan thoroughly enjoyed being outside with his cute little cousins and surprisingly, Ellie was happy for two hours in the baby carrier on my back!

This is just one of the many jumps up on I Street. The guys spend alot of time and energy to make the jumps.

Now here are three cute little kids! All watching their Daddy's ride their bikes and doing some awesome jumps.

Here is Jacob taking just one of the many jumps that are up there.

He just got this new bike and this was only his second or third time riding it.

He got the bike because he agreed to get his wisdom teeth out for a research study and therefore get paid for it - that is how he is paying for his new bike!

All in all - everyone did really good. Nobody crashed, we got some good pictures, the kids were happy to play outside, and I got to be outdoors for a little while!

2009-11-07T07:16:00.001-07:00

Ok, yes I noticed I spelled Barker wrong!! No comments, that includes you Mom! I'll fix it later.

Now, onto the reason for this post. I added comment moderation. I have had some really weird comments (like links for Viagra!). So from now on all comments have to be approved first. I really dont want to have to go private so no more comments from stupid people!!

Some Days...

2009-11-05T21:09:00.004-07:00

I just wanna give up.

I am hoping that I am not the only stay at home MOTHER that feels this way. And I am hoping that by posting my woes other moms can feel some comfort knowing that the grass is definetly not greener on my side of the fence.

I LOVE my children. I would do anything for them. I am incredibly happy that Jacob works so stinking hard so that I don't have to. Some days I want to auction off my children to the highest bidder.

Ellie is so different than Ethan was at this age. Maybe it is because she is a girl, maybe because she is our second child, or maybe just because this is who she is - but she is one dramatic little baby! If something does not go exactly her way - she is screaming her little tush off untill it is made right. I know my mom is out there somewhere reading this and saying, "Not Ellie, she would never!" Yes, mom - she would!! There are days where I just have to ignore her crying because she is crying to just cry. I feel bad, but at the same time - I am NOT going to let her chew on the shoes!!!

And then there is Ethan. And by Ethan, I mean "Ethan the terrible". Ethan is one sweet little boy. He is very polite; always saying please and thank you. He is very courteous, always saying excuse me and I'm sorry. He is also a very good helper; he loves to take out the garbage and help vacuum and put the clean dishes away. He is all of those things - unless you are his mother. And then he is "Ethan the terrible" lately. He yells "NO!". He refuses to take naps and then when 6:00 rolls around he is so exhausted that he is a kicking, hitting, throwing, yelling, not listening machine.

My friend, Aimee, came over the other day and he was doing something he wasn't supposed to. I said stop like 20 times. As soon as Aimee says stop - he stops. What is this magic that others have over my children? Can I get some? Can I buy it?

I really with that STAPLES EASY BUTTON really worked.

My house is a mess. Someone was coming over and I litterally hid my dirty laundry, in my kitchen, under a big bath towel!

The bathrooms haven't been cleaned in almost a month. Yes, mold is starting to grow.

Forget about dusting. That hasn't been done since we bought the house in May.

Laundry is a never ending battle.

I didn't brush my teeth today.

My back is killing me from lifting either a 20lb. or 40lb. child all day long as they battle

over who get to play with what meaningless toy first, only to be forgotten about

minutes and thrown aside.

I have bills that need paid. I need to win the lottery.

Ethan says "Oh crap" every second he remembers he isn't supposed to say "Oh crap" and then immediately follows with "Don't say that!" Because that is what I say when he says it.

He is going through this weird phase where he gives everyone a

smack on the butt - we aren't in sports buddy!!

Ellie is crying because I took a DVD away from her - big crocodile tears.

I can't remember the last time I slept the entire night through - quite literally.

My grocery "want list" is about three pages long.

My house "To Do" list is about 12.

I haven't scrapbooked or sewn in almost a month.

I'm pretty sure that people think I'm a hermit because I feel like I never leave the house.

By the way, what does sunlight look like?

I want to start writing my history but I can't even brush

my teeth dialy let along write!

I wish my stomach was more "elastic" like it was in the olden days. The next web search

I do is going to be titled (Plastic Surgery for Moms).

My acne has gotten worse since I have had kids.

I wanna be done having kids.

I wanna have more kids.

I wish moms had paid vacation and sick leave.

My Grandparents are coming to visit next week and I am very excited.

I have all the words memorized to Rascall Flatts "Life is a Highway" from Cars and

the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song - "It's the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!!

Come inside, it's fun inside! Roll Call!"

I want to go back to school and get my teaching degree. I don't have the money

or energy - not to mention the time to go back to school right now.

Ethan cracked the screen on my IPhone with a car.

I have "fished" poop out of the bath tub three times this month.

I love my kids.

(I really do)

I promise.

2009-11-05T21:05:00.002-07:00

Alright, alright...so it took a little longer to get Ellie's EEG resuts. And then a little longer for me to get around to posting. She is fine. No seizure, she juast has to learn how to breathe!! Anyway, we have been really busy lately and my brain isn't functioning quite yet so Halloween pictures will have to come a little later. Rest assured that they are stinking cute though!

2009-10-26T10:49:00.001-06:00

Ellie goes in for her EEG today at 1:00 p.m. We are really nervous but praying that everything will be ok. I'll post again later after her test.

Another Day at the Doctor's

2009-10-23T14:41:00.002-06:00

I took Ethan back to the doctor's today. His breathing was not improving and I was worried about his oxygen levels. When we arrived Dr. Lish and his nurse Suzanne (who is also awesome!) were talking about Ellie being at the ER. So we talked about Ellie for a few minutes. He asked what had happened and I recapped the whole story. When I told him that she had been asleep he suggested that we get her an EEG. He said it was still most likely a Breath Holding Spell but he wanted to rule out a seizure all together. I agree! I would much rather be safe than sorry. I would rather pay out the wazoo in copays and deductibles than withold an important test that could possible discover a serious ailment. So they will be calling us for a date and time for her EEG. In the meantime, I have time to browse the many information highways to find out everything I can about seizures and an EEG!

When we finally got to Ethan he sent us over to the hospital to get chest x-ray, worried about pneumonia. I called my Grandma Youngberg who lives less than a block away from said hospital and dropped Ellie off. They are so good to play with the kids and I think they were happy to have some solo time with her without Ethan grabbing one of them away! I was glad that they were able to help because it took us nearly 1 1/2 hrs. at the hospital. Back at Dr. Lish's office he said it wasn't pneumonia but that he was swallowing alot of air.

We have heard this before and knew exactly what that meant - steroids. For those asthma newbies out there. Swallowing air isn't good. It basically means that because his lungs cannot absorb what he is breathing in - it is going into stomach. That creates pain and discomfort and in a two year old results in misbehavior. Steroids open up his bronchials and allow more air to be absorbed. The horrible thing about steroids is the side affects. Having had him on steroids before I knew this was coming but dreading it at the same time. Unlike his breathing treatments and inhaler (which are just inhaled steroids) they prescribe liquid steroids. Because they are liquid they get into his blood stream and therefore effect his brain and actions! So my at one time sweet little boy turns into a little terror. Doing everything but listen or be good. It's hard to be nice and understanding when your two year old throws something at your head or kicks you in the leg and then turns and runs - but it is just the medicine - not my boy. It is going to be a long week.

Oh...my children!!

2009-10-17T10:42:00.010-06:00

Ethan is my favorite little boy. I love everything about him and everything he does (well...almost everything he does!). But lately he has been greatly trying my patience and sanity.

Here is a really good example.

We have fish. About 45 fish. Well, atleast we HAD about 45 fish. Now we have one.

Ethan loves to be a helper. Even though he is only two he has chores. Not real chores - just things for him to do every day so that he feels like he is helping. He takes the garbage out. He puts the dishes away, helps wash the laundy, and of course - puts his toys away every day. He actually does really well at these things and thoroughly enjoys them.

Well, about a month ago I convinced Jacob that getting our fish tank up and going would be a good thing for Ethan. We could teach about animals. How to feed them, take care of them, clean the tank. You know, a little learnig experience. He was doind good. I mean, as good as a two year old can do. We had to keep him from standing on the tank a few times and trying to keep him from pounding on the glass was, and is, just about impossible. But feeding the fish was his favorite thing to do. We were sure to keep the fish food up on the computer desk where he couldn't reach it. I knew he would feed them every chance he got if he was allowed to feed them whenever. For those of you who don't know fish very well - they aren't very smart. They will eat all the food you give them. They will eat themselves to death. Also, if you put too much food in the tank - you can actually make the water toxic.

Oh...my son.

Quiet had crept over the house. A rarity. Jacob asked, "Have you checked on Ethan?" Of course not, I thought he was with his Daddy!! We both look downstairs just in time to see Ethan dump an entire bottle of fish food into the tank. We both hurry downstairs and I start scooping it off the top of the water with the empty food jar. There was so much food in there that it was clumping on top because it couldn't dissolve into the water fast enough. Jacob went and got a bucket and started ciphoning the water and food out. He did a good 5 gallons of our 29 gallon tank. We put fresh water in and were hoping the filters would work their magic.

The next morning I went down to feed the fish, as always, at 8 a.m. About 12 hours since their feeding frenzy. The water was so cloudy that I couldn't see anything at all - but that's not normal for what just happened. I turn on the light - and guess what!! I see 45 fish dead on the bottom of the tank. Awesome. So I spent my morning scooping out dead fish fro the bottom of the tank, ciphoning out 13 gallons of water, cleaning out food filled filter cartridges, and cleaning the tank. It was a good morning.

One fish survived. Our plecostomus. You know those sucker fishes that clean the tank? Our lone survivor of 45 fish.

On a totally seperate note. We had family pictures taken not too long ago. Here are some of my favorites.

The whole Youngberg Family

Back: Jacob, Dad, Craig

Middle: Myslef, Mom, Melissa, Samantha

Front: Ellie, Ethan, Aiden

Cute Ellie girl and Grandpa Youngberg

Ellie with just a hint of her black eye

Daddy and a very tired little boy. Ethan was really good considering we took pictures for 2 1/2 hrs.

Two cute boys

Two more cute boys

Ethan and Ellie looking super cute!

My Ellie girl with a sweet little smile

Ethan: showing off his personality!

Sweet Ellie

Jacob and myself

Ethan, just chillin' before everyone arriaves

And then there is my little Ellie. Who is already such a little drama queen!! On Tuesday we took both kids to the Doctor's office. Which they both love by the way. Dr. Lish is an awesome doctor - you know that's true when the kids get excited to see him! Anyway, they both have bronchitis and Ellie has an ear infection - again! Because Ethan has asthma he get to have breathing treatments three times a day untill he gets better!

Poor Ethan with his oxygen mask at home. We have a little nebulizer at home (a mini air compressor) that turns his liquid medication into a mist that he breathes in. He doens't mind it so much because that means he gets to watch a show three times a day to help him sit still!

Anyway, on to my little drama queen. We put the kids to better early around 7:30 and Jacob and I were hanging out downstairs. All of a sudden we Ellie just start screaming. And I mean screaming. Not her I'm hungry scream or mama just put me down and walked away scream. This was her "I'm going to die unless you fix it scream". So I go up there and usually I can calm her right down and she will go back to sleep. But after a few minutes she is still screaming - so Jacob comes upstairs. He tries for several minutes and she is still screaming. And this whole time, from the second I picked her up, she is so very limp. She wouldn't hold her head up, grab for her blanket or anything. So I go and get her a bottle. Which she won't reach for. So Jacob starts feeding her and she calms down after a few drinks. But when Jacob takes the bottle away and she finally opens her eyes she stares blankly at the ceiling. She still won't repsond, still won't respond, so I finally say/yell "We are going to the hospital!!"

I told Jacob to get dressed because he was coming with me, while I grabbed my bag and called my parents to come over since Ethan was still asleep. But apparently, Jacob was way too slow getting dressed because I just left without him and made him drive his own car. I think I drove 55 my way there!! in a 30 limit by the way!! Oh well, I wouldn't have stopped had they tried to pull me over anyway!

I rush in there and they take us right back. Dr. Gardner was there, who we really like (he was the Dr. we saw when we took Ethan in to the ER with his RSV). He checks her over and asks us some questions and all through this it was like Ellie was just barely waking up. I was really worried that she had a seizure - but she hadn't had a fever. So he tells us the diagnosis. Breath Holding Spell. Apparently a lot of kids do it, just not normally in their sleep. It happens in their sleep, just not as often as when they are awake. Most of the time when it happens it is because a child is having a tantrum or something and cries so hard that they aren't taking breathes and nearly pass out or do sometimes. When it does happen in their sleep, it looks a lot like a siezure. He said the only way to tell is to wait 10-15 minutes, if they snap out of it after a few mintues, it was a Breath Holding Spell. If not, it was a seizure.

So we paid our co-pay and took her home.

She fell right asleep.

Slept all through the night.

Happy as a lark the next morning.

Whereas I went home and stayed up all night listening intently to see if I could hear her breathing! I was not happy!

2009-10-11T20:51:00.001-06:00

Life has been crazy!!

We have some illness lately that has taken over my life a bit. Nothing serious, just constant ear infections and tonsilitis that we can't seem to get rid of. I feel like I live at the doctors office and I am personally paying for the new truck he was talking to me about buying at our last visit. I really our Dr. - he is awesome with the kids. Whatver Dr. Lish tells Ethan to do: Ethan does! That's how we got him to eat apples; Dr Lish said to eat apples and gave him at a recent appointment. Now he loves apples!!

Ellie got tubes in the last part of September. She hasn't had a problem with her ears but she has tonsilitis that isn't going away. One more week of trying to get better and then the tonsils come out!! For heavens sake - I just got the bill for the tubes!!

The tube in ethan's right ear fell out and he immediately got an ear infection. We are just waiting for him to get another - it's inevitable.

I did buy a new first aid tool that I amrather happy with and I think every parent should invest in. It's called Ear Check Monitor. It was rather pricey at $61.99. But our FSA covered it and it works wonderfully. I even took it in the doctors office to see what he thought and he said it would well worth the money for our ear infection prone family. It sends sound waves into the ear and reads the return wave - telling you if there is fluid in the ear. I would recommend it to anyone who has a child that gets ear infections.

We ordered ethan's Halloween costume this weeks. We gave him a couple of choices and he chose Spiderman. So thanks to the wonderful world of eBay, spiderman should be here sometime this week - and at a fraction of the cost of department store/professional costume website spiderman.

Ellie is going to be the cutesy little fairy ever! She has a tutu, tights, cute top, wings, flowers, and sparkly candy bag and all. Her cute best friend, Kaylee Fuller, is going to be a fairy too. I will have to post the pictures of the two of them together on Halloween.

This is the first year we are letting Ethan actually go trick-or-treating. I am kinda excited for him to go - o just really hope Jacob can get the night off. It makes me sad to think he might miss ethan's first time out.

Today is the real reason I am writing though. Of course, ot is fast Sunday today. And every time a woman, and occassionally a man, gets up and starts to cry, ethan turns to me and says, "matter, mama?". Well today he did just that. When I said that the lady was happy, he said, "Ethan happy too?". So when I asked him if he wanted to go up there his cute little face just lit up and he said yea mama!! So when she was done he joes out into the aisle and yelled "come on mama!!" as he ran up to the stage. When we got up there I helped him and he ever so quotely whispered it unto the microphone. I dot think anyone could hear him at all!! It was just the cutesy thing ever. An so, today, is the first timey little bore his testimony in sacrent meeting. I love it when the kids stand up so I am so happy that he was excited to do that. He is a sweet little boy!!

2009-09-18T17:39:00.001-06:00

I have been so bad since having Ellie at updating this blog. I keep telling myself to do better but then it never happens. So this is me telling you that a good long post with pictures is on it's way!

2009-08-23T22:06:00.003-06:00

If there are any other blog addicts out there; I apoligize. I thoroughly expect everyone I know to keep their blog up to date so that I have something new to read about every day. And yet, I am horrible at updating my mine! I really struggle.

So here is our update...

My in-laws, Dave and Denise bought this adorable dress for our little Ellie and I love it! You just can't find dresses like these. They bought it Playa Del Carmen and we, of course, wore it the first Sunday we could. It just so lightweight and easy to wear than ou can't help but loving it for a little summer dress. And the colors of the flowers are gorgeous so we had to have a photo-op at Grandma Youngberg's before we headed off to church.

She is getting to be such a big girl that I can't believe it! She is army crawling now and will rarely crawl for real. Actually, I think she would crawl if big brother wasn't always walking all over her! She expects to eat everything that we eat and if she doesn't get it she will definitely let you know. She is still so squirmy that even Grandma Barker has started calling her Squirmy Sue. I don't remember Ethan being this active!

She is a good little girl!

Ethan felt that if we were taking pictures of Ellie that he needed to be involved as well. So we included him in our little photo-op. He looks like such a grown up little boy in his little dress pants and vest. He thinks he is Ellie's mom too and keeps telling her what to do and to go time-out when she tries to eat paper!

Earlier this month we had the chance to ride the train! Not just some little kids train but the actual Union Pacific! They were having a special train safety day and you could free tickets to ride from the Depot in Brigham City to Crystal Hot Springs and back. When we got to Crystal Hot Spring they gave a little safetly talk for about 5 mintues and then we headed back into Brigham. I think the whole trip took about 30 minutes; which was long enough with all the kids packed into one little train car!

While we were waiting in line there was a freight train that kept going back and forth. The kids thought that was coolest thing seeing a train so up close. Ethan was glued to fence and kept yelling "train!"

This is Ethan and his cute little cousing Abby watching the train go back and forth. I love how cute the look! Looking up a the big train in awe!

This one makes me laugh every time I see it! He was so excited and he kept squishing his face up to the bars like he was trying to sqeeze through and get closer to the train. It just really shows his excitement.

The train cars that we rode on were really nice and very spacious. I thought there were going to be fairly cramped and uncomfortable. The cars were two stories tall and we chose to sit on the top because we thought the kids might be able to see more from up there. The seats were very comfortable and far more roomy than any airplane I have every been on. The seats on the bottom level even had foot rests that you could pull out! They were also unbelievably quiet. You had to be listening very closely to hear the train whistle blow which from the outside you can hear for miles around.

Ethan had a great time watching out the window and pointing out all the cows, horses, and wate that he saw. He loved sitting with his cousins, Grandma Barker, and Great Grandma Hansen. And Brooke and I were glad that Grandma's could come and help keep our kids thoroughly entertained and in control on our train ride.

Even now, almos a month later, we will be sitting and all of a sudden Ethan will just stop, look up at me or Jacob and say, "Train ride, today!?" We always just, "Maybe another day buddy!"

Ellie enjoyed the train as well. She liked looking out the windows for a little while but mostly she liked watching the other kids run around and the other moms try to get them to sit down and not yell. She was a good little girl the whole train ride even though it was far past her bedtime.

2009-08-09T19:15:00.001-06:00

I just had to add my quick, happy story on here!

We were giving the kids a bath and Ethan normally pees right as he gets in. This time I asked him if he needed to use the toilet...and he did!!!

I know it's nowhere near being totally potty trained but I was so glad for a sign that he was atleast getting a step closer!

I know there are kids out there his age that are completely toilet trained but he just hasn't showed any sign of interest. We ask him and prompt him. There hasn't been anything - untill tonight!!!

2009-07-16T20:48:00.001-06:00

45 minutes later - Ellie is asleep.

2009-07-16T20:40:00.001-06:00

Oh, my children.

I am laying in the hallway between my two kids bedrooms writing this. Ellie is going through this phase where she insists on going to bed with a bottle. I say "no", she cries, and cries, and cries, and so on.

As she cries; Ethan stays awake - not used to having to fall asleep to the sound of a screaming baby.

So here I lay on the floor going back and forth from room to room trying to use my mind powers to get Ellie to stop crying and together Ethan to magically drift off to sleep.

It's not working - just in case you were wondering.

Jacob and I went and saw the new Harry Potter yesterday. We went to the 3:45 show. Not just because it was much less busy then but because that's when Grandma was available! It was good. I don't think I have ever seen a movie that fully lived up to the book - but it was good. I defintely will not be letting Ethan see it any time soon. A little too dark for him.

Jacob is getting so excited for his trip to Whistler on the 27th. Him and Phillip even have a date on Sunday to go over the details. Though I am excited for him, I am not so excited to be home by myself with two children for a while week. I'll have to buy me something pretty to help keep my sanity!

So if any of you are nearby and bored at the end of the month - think of me!

I can print!...I think.

2009-07-12T08:14:00.004-06:00

I just wanted to let everyone out there know how mad I am at my printer. Somehow back in October of last year the software for the printer got removed from our computer. I couldn't find the CD and our computer was having a meltdown when I tried to download the software from HP.com. So being pregnant and ornery, I promptly gave up and have being using on older, not nearly as nice printer that my mom was going to get ride of. Finally last night after 2 hours of searching I found our nice all-in-one printer cables so I could try again.

I get online and it won't recognize the device. After five hours of on-line chat session with three different hp help support people my printer finally works! I can print! No more going to my mom's house when ever Ethan runs out of Mickey Mouse coloring pages! I pick my document to print and wait ever so patiently as a plain white page comes out my beautiful printer...that has no ink.

2009-07-09T11:07:00.002-06:00

Hurry over to http://simplychicstitches.com and register as a member so that you can be automatically entered in our competition to win a free tote!

We are going to be at the Ogden Craft Show on

Saturday, July 25 from 10-8

so come and check us out.

It is at the Ogden Marriot. We will have all of product there but we will also be doing

custom vinyl orders there. You can order at the show and then take it home with you! No waiting or shipping!

So much!

2009-07-09T10:22:00.006-06:00

Ellie is 6 months old...well back on June 12 anyway!

She is such a little sweetheart that I can barely stand it! She weighed in at a skinny 14 lb. 15 oz. and 27 inches tall. That makes her tall and skinny! She is still wearing 0-3 month clothes - which is sometimes nice because then I don't have to buy her new ones for a while!

I love her cute little rosy cheeks. I have to try really hard to resist pinching them all day long. She is the cutest girl i know!

I love these bows too - they have a color to go with every outfit you could possibly imagine.

Ethan's new favorite thing to do is help me feed Ellie. I have to watch him very carefully when she is eating her rice puffs. If I turn around for one second, Ethan has shoved 10 in her mouth and her little cheeks are full!

Ellie really doesn't mind Ethan feeding her until her shoves the spoon too far into her mouth. Then Mama takes over. Ethan makes an absolute mess but it is fun for the both of them. Ellie laughs at her big brother all the time and it is the sweetest sound.

Grandma Great and Papa Pow came up on their way through to Yellowstone. The stayed for the 4th and then went on their way. While they were here we took them fishing in Wellsville. It is so pretty there and is the perfect place for Ethan to go fishing. There are toys nearby when he gets tired of fishing. There is shade for me and Ellie. And we always catch something while we are there!

Ethan has started to ask to go fishing these days. We have been going once a week lately and he is still not tired of it. He likes to eat the fish too. He hasn't seen Jacob gut them yet but he does know that he is eating fish for dinner!

He loves his little "Cars" pole that we bought for him. He reels them in right and left on that little 1 1/2 foot pole. He is very proud of himself and always has to carry them around in the fishing net for a while.

We tie the fish to a pole where we fish and as soon as we catch one he spends to the rest of the day pulling the fish out of the water to see it. Poor fish!

Ellie enjoys fishing too! We bring a blanket and her toys and she watches all the fun go down. She loves it outside and we have to do everything in our power to keep her from eating the grass!

The 4th was so much fun with two little kids! Ethan loved seeing all his family and especially his great grandparents that we don't get to see too often. Him and Papa Pow became very good friends while they were here.

Ethan spent most of the holidays trying to ride his bike. He is still trying to learn how to use the pedals but we are working on it. We plan to buy him a "big boy" bike for Christmas or his birthday with some training wheels. For now Mama's old tricycle from the olden days will have to do!

And does that face say mischievous or what!

Ellie was very patriotic in her summer dress. She loved being passed around and adored by anyone who would hold her!

Grandma Youngberg bought some fireworks to add to our collection. These were some things where you pull on the string and a bunch of confetti would pop out everywhere. He loved them and would yell "POW!" as he pulled on the string.

Next we lit some that shot a parachuter up in the air. I swear that parachute went 30 feet in the air. They were so loud and he would just sit with Auntie Melissa and laugh and laugh.

Oh my goodness! If that face doesn't say how much he loved them,

then I don't know what does!

Him and Grandpa Great had a good time watching more parachutes on the other side of the house too. I don't know how looks like they are having more fun?

the fireworks were so fun. I was worried that Ellie would be scared but she played there and kicked at them all night long. I put cotton balls in her ears hoping that would help.

I love the 4th of July. It has always been my favorite holiday and it is just getting more and more fun as our little family grows.

Air Show

2009-06-07T16:28:00.007-06:00

Yesterday, Saturday, Myself, my Mom, Ethan, Ellie, and an ATK intern, Alan, went to the Hill Air Force Base Air Show in Clearfield. But before that we took the frontrunner from Ogden to Salt Lake so that we could walk around the Gateway.

Ethan loved the train and for the previous three days before that was all he could talk about. He loved every minute and just couldn't get enough of anything train.

This is my Mom with cute little Ellie girl. I made her the bow and shoes the night before. I couldn't sleep so I figured if I was going to be up I may as well be doing something!

I like her white shorts. I call them hot pants

Here is me and my cute girl. If you notice her shirt is different in this picture. Oh, it's a good story. Half way on our train ride Ellie was sitting on my Mom's lap and totally loaded her drawers. So what does Grandma do? Hand her over to Mom of course!! Nobody else was on our train car and our next stop wasn't for another 20 minutes so I decided that if I was really careful I could try and change her on the floor or train. I didn't want to do it on the seats - just in case!

So I get everything out and ready to change her and when I go to lay her down on the diaper mat - the mess is all up her back! Not only is it all up her back but it is all over my shirt too. Great! Because, of course, being the prepared Mom that I am I actually brough Ellie two changes of clothes. I even brought a change of clothes for Ethan. But not for me! So I hurried and changed Ellie and let my Mom get her dressed while I took a diaper wipe and tried to clean off my shirt as best as possible.

I wore the baby carrier most of the day to help hide my shirt.

The kids were good to sit in the stroller for most of the time untill Ethan realized he could actually go up and touch the planes. Then he didn't want to sit in the stroller at all. He cried untill we took him out and leashed him with his monkey backpack.

I love this picture of my little girl. She looks so cute and funny and goofy all at the same time. She loved watching all of the peopole and kids run around and play and goof off. The only thing she didn't like was the loud noise from the planes and the monster trucks when they reved thier engines.

Ethan got to sit in this plane and he loved it. I couldn't get a picture of him in the plane because I was trying to keep him from crawling over it. He cried when I tried to take him out.

He kept saying "copter, copter" and then "out, out". He had a great time seeing all the planes. He couldn't point and say plane fast enough before there was another he wanted to go look at.

Now there's a cute couple!

Here is me and Ethan with Miss Dolly. Ethan kept pointing to her and saying "pretty!"

It was really funny.

Once the main event of the "Thunderbirds" started Ethan was so excited! He would move his finger back and forth really fast and say "puchew" - because that is noise that planes make. And then he would look at Grandma and say really loudly - "planes - fast, fast fast!!"

They were really fast. It was really hard for me to take video and picture because I keep losing them in my view finder. I think I got a couple of good ones though.

They really did some amazing things and when they would do something like straight up Ethan would just laugh and clap.

Sometimes there would be just one, three, four, five, or six. I can't believe how they just seem to float and glide up there but they are so stinking heavy and huge. It is amazing!

When we got home Ethan just crashed on my bed wathcing Montsters Inc. He was so tired that he was just a little blob. We had bought him this little toy plane at the air show and he didn't let go of it at all that day. Not even when he was too tired to move. He still had that plane in his hand. I went in to check on him and asked how he was doing. He said "tired mama, sleepy". It was so adorable. He had a really fun day but we were all glad it was over.

Here he is five minutes later. I was worried we would have to take it to church today but somehow we were able to get out the door without it.

Plane in hand. Out like a light.

Ellie wasn't much different from Ethan once we got home but I did get some cute

smiles out of her before she went to bed. It's a cute picture but I didn't realize she had

spit-up on her lip/chin!

Our day wore her out too. She is such a little sweet heart. I love seeing her when she is asleep. She is just so peaceful that I want to pick her up and kiss her cute little apple cheeks. But I won't - I know better than that!

We don't have much going on this week. Just the usual day to day things we do. We got tickets for Ethan and me to go to the summer movie matines with a friend of mine and her little boy briggs who is really close to Ethan's age. I haven't taken him to a movie yet because I don't want to pay $11 and only get to see 5 minutes of the show. These tickets are .50 each, they are cartoons, and the whole theatre will be full of other kids. I thought this would be a good time to take him to his first movie.

Jacob is going to Whistler, Canada the end of July we are trying to save most of our money so we can pay cash for his trip. He got his passport in the mail the other day, the hotel is booked, and the lift tickets are purchased. I think he is getting excited.

Sam and I are still working our website, http://simplychicstitches.com/. Help us by getting the word out!

Ellie has her six month check-up next Tuesday. It looks like she has been gaining weight and I know that she is doing better with her acid reflux. I just hope she is doind well enough that we can take her off her medicine. Though the medicine is expensive - it is totally worth it to have a happy girl. I will gladly keep paying for it if she needs it. She is doing really well with her solid foods and is eating puffs (Ethan is eating the puffs too when he can get his hands on them).

2009-05-28T09:15:00.013-06:00

I know that it has been forever since my last post but we have been so busy moving that I haven't had a chance to do anything on here.

We are finally getting there. We only a few dozen boxes left to unpack! We have so much stuff it is unbelievable.

I haven't taken any good pictures of our house yet because I haven't had a chance to clean it really well yet. I'll get there but it might be a while before they are up. I did however have to put up a picture of little Ellie girl's room. I love her new canopy and I think it's awesome!

You'll have to disregard the pajamas slung over the side of the crib!

On Monday, when Jacob got home from work, the yard work commenced. Ethan loves to be outside and do everything his Daddy does. We have a little lawn mower for Ethan but it's just not the same as his Daddy's. He wanted so much to help that Jacob finally caved and let him help with the big boy mower. Ethan would chase him around untill he could finally catch up with Jacob and then it was the cutest thing ever!

We also edged our front yard around our walk way. There was so much dirt to clean we had to enlist Ethan's help. He was actually really good sweeping the dirt and grass into the dust pan. But when it came to putting it in the garbage he was too short. He would try and get the dust pan up in the garbage but instead the pan would end up straight up and down and all the dirt would come right back down on his head. At the end ot the day he had dirt down his shirt, pants, and diaper! A bath followed.

Ellie enjoyed the outdoors as well. She loves her big brother and kept laughing at him every time he tried to put dirt in the garbage can. She is so cute and is getting so big it makes me sad. She started solid foods a couple weeks ago and is doing better and keeping her food down. She is still on her medicine to help with the acid reflux. We took her off of it a couple of weeks ago but it didn't go well. She is a much happier baby with it and it is worth the price! She loved being outside and I love her floppy hat!

Yesterday we took Ethan on his first official fishing trip. We went over to Wellsville Park. It was really nice and warm and there were alot of people there. Ethan was really excited. All the way over he kept saying "bishin poe!" That's how he says Fishing Pole. We bought him a pole for Christmas and this was his first chance to use it. He was so cute watching his Daddy cast and putting a worm on the end!

There were ducks in the water and kept pointing to them and saying "Ducks! Quack, Quack!" and then once the ducks were out of sight he would say "Ducks - home?" They always came back and then we would hear "Ducks! Quack, Quack!" all over again.

Wellsville is really pretty and the weather could not have been better for us to go fishing. There was a little baseball game going on behind and at times it was hard to keep Ethan from running over into the field. He kept wanting Jacob to go play with him!

Ellie thoroughly enjoyed our outing as well. We brough a blanket so that me and her could hang out in the shade behind the boys. She liked watching the birds and all the other poeple move around. She would laugh at Ethan every time he said quack, quack! She is so cute and I love how bright blue her eyes are. These pictures dont' do them justice because they are super bright!

She is drooling so much now that she is starting to get her top two teeth in. But hey - it's better than spit-up right? Her hair is also coming in blonde now behind the brown. She is going to be just like Ethan was - super white blonde hair!

This picture shows Ethan's favorite part of fishing. The Fritos. I would hide the bag and then he would sneak around and find it. I would find him with a fist full and a mouth full every time I turned around.

Eventually they did catch a fish. Jacob would tell Ethan they had a fish and to come hep him reel it in. Instead of coming to help he would just look around with this look like "you said we had a fish but I don't see it?!" look. We finally got him over there so that he could help. Jacob would man the reel and Ethan just shook the pole back and forth really fast. That was how he was helping!

It took about 10 shots to get a good picture of him holding his fish. He couldn't stop staring at it and saying "bishie". When we finally did get him to look up the fish would flop around and Ethan would start screaming and run away. He DID NOT like it when the fishing flopped around! I really like this picture though. He is so stinking cute!

They caught one more fish after this one and then we went home. The fish didn't start biting till just after eight and by the time we got packed up and drove home we didn't get home untill nine. We didn't Ethan stay up to his fish. The whole way home he was asking if his fishies were "ok" so weren't quite sure he was ready to see Jacob gut them and then cook them out on the grill! So Grandpa and Grandma Barker came over last night to help eat the fish. He lvoed fishing and we are definitely going to have to take him again.

Samantha and I are still working hard on our website. We are getting there and have nearly 30 items posted up for sale. Make sure visit the site at http://simplychicstitches.com. We do special orders and Samantha does some amazing vinyl so make sure that you check it out.

Jacob is getting ready for his big trip in the end of July. Him and his brother, Phillip, are going to Whisler, Canada to go mountain biking. I have been hearing for years that we should move to Whister but I think that is as close as Jacob is going to get. I hope he has a lot of fun. With the new border laws he had to get a passport and everything. Who would have thought going to Canada would be that much work??

2009-04-25T08:45:00.015-06:00

After a lot of whining from a few people here are some pictures from the last few months. They are in reverse because I don't have the energy to switch them all around!

Here is Ethan with his Easter basket. We really don't go all out on Easter gifts because we feel he gets enough throughout the year without having to add to every holiday. Easter for my family has never been a gift holiday - it's always been about church, the Savior, and the Resurrection.

We did have an Easter hunt this year. Last year Ethan just didn't understand. This year he absolutely loved it!

For a week afterwards he would run outside and started looking for eggs. It would take forever for us to convince him that there were no more eggs to be found.

Here he is with his Easter bucket. Yes, bucket. Apparently boys use buckets. Not baskets.

Here is my little Ellie girl in her new Easter dress and coat. She is so cute! And I know the bow looks funny right on top of her head but some two year old girls would die to have enough hair to put a little bow in it!

This is the only somewhat decent picture I could get of both kids together. Ethan was not happy at all about being in the picture. He wanted to take the picture with Grandma.

Isn't she cute!
One week we would have super cold weather and the next would be three feet of snow. It was unreal. Something Ethan really loves to do is splash in the water in Grandma's gutter. This just reminds me why we decided to move back to Brigham. We couldn't do this with our cute boy in Salt Lake. He loves to play outside and we can't wait for warm weather that will last a little while!
When it did snow we had to build a snowman. It was a lot of powder so our snowman ended up being a snow blob but Ethan loved him just the same. He had to give him a kiss.

The snow was really deep. Poor little Ethan could barely move because of the clothes I made him wear and then you add in two and a half feet of snow and we had to lead him through our trails so that he wouldn't get buried under all the powder!

We blessed Ellie March 1, 2009 at my Mom's house. Jacob had to work that Sunday so we couldn't do it in Church. Our little family is growing! Ellie was blessed in my blessing dress that my Mom had made for me.

This is Papa B - Ellie's Great Grandpa.

Here is Ethan's "birthday party" - and yes we are at Taco Time. Grandma chose the site. He loved it and ate he also loved my burrito. We bought him some of his own food but the grass (and burrito) is always greener on the other side.

Grandma bought him some choo choos that he absolutely loved. That is why they are in such a blur. He couldn't stop moving them and shaking them he was so excited to get them home and play. with them.

Tonight Jacob and I are going to the Jazz/Lakers playoff game with Sam and Craig. We couldn't afford really great seats but we are in the lower section of the upper bowl. Don't get me wrong - I will still have to wear my glasses to the players clearly but it will still be fun to go to a playoff game. We are really excited. Jacob and I plan to eat at the Red Iguana there in downtown Salt Lake. If you haven't eaten there and are in the area I highly recommend it. Every time we go there is a line out the door to get in. It is some of the best Mexican food I have ever had!

2009-04-23T09:21:00.001-06:00

We are only one week away from being our house. It is nice to know the soon everyone can have their own spaces again.

Ellie is growing like a weed. At her four month check which was just a week ago she weighed in at 12 lb. 7 oz. And 26" tall. She is a tall, skinny little stinker. About two weeks ago she decided that she didn't want to be bundled anymore. We thought we would have to train her to sleep not bundled but she made the decision herself and it has been really nice.

Ethan is getting to be such an "adult" now. Or so he thinks. He says please, thankyou, and you're welcome non-stop. He has to shake everybodies hand at church. He is the sweetest little boy to Ellie. If she is upset he goes over to her, gives her a hug, pays her on the back and tells her it's ok! It doesn't get any better than that!!

If you haven't checked out Sam and I's website please do! It's at simplychicstitches.com. We are going to be having a contest soon. You can send in a design/appliqué you created and it will be featured ok one of our bags - you will also get the bag free! So please head over and register as a new member because only registered members will be able to participate.

2009-04-09T14:43:00.001-06:00

My poor boy

Poor little Ethan. We can never seem to keep him healthy for more than a month.

A cold we can deal with. Just a cold would he awesome! But with Ethan a cold is never just a cold. Since he was three months all the way till he was one a cold meant an automatic ear infection. Those stopped when we had tubes put just before his first birthday.

He did so well after that for about 9 months. But now that he is older he likes to play. He loves other little kids! Who am I to deprive him of that joy? But along with other kids - naturally comes colds- along with other things.

We try hard to keep him home when cousins, friends, and family are sick but somewhere some how he picks something up (and yes - we do wipe down the shopping cart!)

These days when he gets a cold he tends to get a sinus infection, strep throat, or tonsilitis.

This week it was a sinus infection. One day he is fine and the next morning when he wakes up he is a full blown sick little boy!

We learned from our many trips to Primary Childrens to have an action plan. You see, with Ethan, a cold us never just a cold. It turns into a serious health risk that can leave hypoxic and in the emergency room. Our goal is always of course to keep his oxygen levels up and try our best to keep him out of the hospital.

I feel so bad when he does get sick enough to induce his asthma because it sentences him to calmness. A two year old calm?! I think that is the hardest part for us both.

Usually we can get by with his inhaler but Tuesday night was really bad. He was barely breathing. And we worried about letting him sleep because that is when his oxygen drops to it's lowest. Thankfully, our last doctor had given us a prescription for a steroid to help open his lungs - our last chance. Steroids are always a last option for Ethan because is the possible side effects for a little boy we only give it to him as a last resort.

When we took him to the doctor yesterday his oxygen was at 90%. Anything under that and it means your body isn't getting enough oxygen to function correctly. We were so glad we had that steroid at home and that it had worked quickly enough that his lungs were starting to breathe well again.

Today he is much better but one of the unfortunate effects of the steroids is mood swings. As long as he us breathing though - we are happy!

I just want to add that at times it seems like we deal with alot of illness in our little family but we are truly grateful that our kids are as healthy as they are. We consider ourselves lucky and blessed that we have only had to deal with relatively small problems.

~On a totally different note - Happy Easter! I hope we all remember why we really celebrate at this time of year.

2009-04-06T07:58:00.007-06:00

> Hey - I know it's a been a while but we have been so busy lately I
> can hardly believe it. Living with my parents isn't bad it's just
> difiicult. Not having your own things and your own routine makes
> each day a challenge.
>
> Not to mention that Samantha (my sister-in-law) have decided to
> start a business. It's called Simply Chic Stitches. We have a
> website that you guys should check out. It's just
> simplychicstitches.com. We are still both trying to learn how to
> start and run a site so be patient with us!
>
> Check it out and let us know what you think. We sell everything from
> vinyl, kids and adult clothing, kitchen and home décor, to all kinds
> of accessories!
>
> We close on our home here in Brigham at the end of the month so
> hopefully things will calm down and I can do better at keeping this
> blog up to date.

2009-04-06T07:58:00.005-06:00

2009-04-06T07:58:00.003-06:00

Hey - I know it's a been a while but we have been so busy lately I can
hardly believe it. Living with my parents isn't bad it's just
difiicult. Not having your own things and your own routine makes each
day a challenge.

Not to mention that Samantha (my sister-in-law) have decided to start
a business. It's called Simply Chic Stitches. We have a website that
you guys should check out. It's just simplychicstitches.com. We are
still both trying to learn how to start and run a site so be patient
with us!

Check it out and let us know what you think. We sell everything from
vinyl, kids and adult clothing, kitchen and home décor, to all kinds
of accessories!

We close on our home here in Brigham at the end of the month so
hopefully things will calm down and I can do better at keeping this
blog up to date.

2009-04-06T07:58:00.001-06:00

Check it out and let us know what you think. We sell everything from
vinyl, kids and adult clothing, kitchen and home décor, to all kinds
of accessories!

We close on our home here in Brigham at the end of the month so
hopefully things will calm down and I can do better at keeping this
blog up to date.

2009-04-06T07:53:00.001-06:00

Hey - I know it's a been a while but we have been so busy lately I can hardly believe it. Living with my parents isn't bad it's just difiicult. Not having your own things and your own routine makes each day a challenge.

Not to mention that Samantha (my sister-in-law) have decided to start a business. It's called Simply Chic Stitches. We have a website that you guys should check out. It's just simplychicstitches.com. We are still both trying to learn how to start and run a site so be patient with us!

Check it out and let us know what you think. We sell everything from vinyl, kids and adult clothing, kitchen and home décor, to all kinds of accessories!

We close on our home here in Brigham at the end of the month so hopefully things will calm down and I can do better at keeping this blog up to date.

2009-02-16T10:09:00.001-07:00

Just as life is starting to return to normal we decide to make a change!

Just a few days after my last post Ethan came down with strep throat. And as if that wasn't enough - we took Ellie to Primary Childrens that same night. We spent nearly five days there. After many sleepless nights and even more tests they diagnosed a severe case of acid reflux and an illius. An illius is when for some reason your intestines become inflamed and sore. So as a natural defense they shut down and stop functioning. As a result anything you eat just pools in your stomach. Once you add in the fact that she has reflux it was very painful. Her milk would sit in her poor little tummy and "frement" untill she threw up - very painful for a little one.

It took nearly two weeks to get her days and nights put back together. We are all doing much better and almost as important sleeping much better too!

A few days ago Jacob and I put an offer in on a home in Kaysville. It's a short sale so we have no idea how long it could take to get an answer and even if they will accept our offer. It could take months. The problem was that we were still under contract at our apartment here. I put an ad in ksl for someone to take over our lease. I really didn't think anyone would. A few days later a woman called, she walked through the next day, and immediately signed a contract and put a deposit down. That was Saturday. We have to be gone by next Wednesday!! Yea - that's a week and a half to pack and move.

So now we are homeless. Almost.

Enter mom and dad.

As much as we (and I mean me and my parents) are not excited about this it's going to save us a ton of money and let us put offers in on other homes as well.

Wish us luck ok finding a home!