Baby J is 6 weeks old.....

All I can say is "where does the time go??" Jiles is 6 weeks old today so I thought I should post. We took these pictures last night, there were so many cute ones I had a hard time deciding which ones to put up. J.D. doesn't make it on here very often and I thought that this one was cute of him nuzzling his newborn (I know, 6 weeks isn't very newborn, but he is still so floppy and lazy). Our family is really enjoying having him home, 4 weeks now. I will say it again, time goes by so quickly. I was changing him this morning and it occured to me that the little dude is still actually in the 'newborn' diapers...that is a first for our family. I usually only buy 2 packages or so of those and then we are on to size 1. He is still small, maybe around 8 pounds or so. He is also a very nice baby, hardly any crying and starting to stay awake more often. What a joy he is in our family (the kids all think that he is boring, sleeping, eating and more sleeping), I am trying to soak up every minute of it because before long he will be 2 then before I know it 16....

Smiths with Ella....

So, it has been a while since I had been to the grocery store for "Big" shopping since I had Jiles. Ella wanted to go with me a couple of days ago and I am so glad that she did. Off to Smiths (they had better ads this week, I usually prefer Harmons, much cleaner, newer and way more fun stuff for all the impulse buys), when I got there I soon realized that the car seat that I bought for the baby does not fit, "click", onto the shopping cart. Dang!! I needed the room in my cart for groceries. I ended up putting Jiles in the big part of the cart and was going to load in what I could around him, that is until Ella found the new 'child-sized' carts at Smiths. She usually has a fit and wants me to push around the car-looking ones (which she never stays in), but this time she thought that it would be fun to shop for herself. Well, you would not believe what you can fit in her small cart and my big cart put together. I got all my shopping done and she literally wanted everything in her cart. Now, on to the funny part....I have NO idea where she has heard, or learned this, but everytime we would put something in her cart, a gallon of milk, cheese, cereal, bread, whatever it was, I would say 'thank-you' and she would pipe up with a "it's my pleasure!" WHAT??!? Where did my 4 year old get that?? She was amazing help that day, and on most days, with cleaning, shopping, just being my friend...and she makes me laugh!! All the better. She rocks.

Look ma, no braces!!.....

On Wednesday, May 20th both Brenna and Drew got their braces off. They were both so excited. Brenna has had hers on for nearly 6 years (on and off, waiting for teeth to fall out, get pulled etc. and then grow in), and Drew had his on for about 2 years. Both of them nearly cried when the dentist started to grind the leftover cement off, "beauty is pain" I told them. The first thing I thought when I saw Brenna was how much she looked like Morgan and how grown up Drew looked. He will not even have to go to Middle School with them. Lucky!!! I am looking forward to taking a small break from the orthodontists office. I think we have been seeing them regularly for nearly 7 years now, Morgan then J.D., Brenna and Drew. Jensen will for sure need them too, but not for a year or so, he still has some time. Dr. Young is a great orthodontist and I am grateful for him helping to make my kids look so, so good!!!

Love being a mom....

Well, here it is Mothers Day and I wanted to write about 6 of the best reasons I have for being a Mother!! Morgan, Brenna, Drew, Jensen, Ella and Jiles. I could not dream of having better children or ever loving being a mom as much as I do. I will be the first to admit that not every day is a dream come true, but for the most part I could not ask for a better life. Part of that also includes my awesome husband J.D., and the ability that he has given me to be a stay-at-home mom. Tonight as I read the cards my kids gave me and listened to the music "montage" that Morgan put together as we drove home from Janas house (all of which made me cry like a baby) - I feel an overwhelming sense of appreciation for the sweet spirits that I have been privileged to raise. Could there really be anything more important in this whole world than being a mom?? My answer tonight is "no" - there is not a harder job, a more frustrating job, a scarier job, a more time-sucking job in the whole world...but there is also none more rewarding, fulfilling and in all honesty better, and truly amazing than being the "mom". Wathching my children grow brings me such joy...I don't want them to grow, (Morgan always promises me when I was combing her hair into a ponytail at 3 years old that she would not grow-up), unfortunaltely she grew...and it has been an amazing journey. Each day brings a new set of challenges, but also a new set of rewards that constantly amaze me. I cannot imagine my life without them. I am now and will always be, proud to be the mom of my 6---Thank you, Morgan, Brenna, Drew, Jensen, Ella, and Jiles for being such a big part of my heart!! I love you.

Things that got looked over....

So I started to think today about all the things that got looked over since our last couple of weeks have been a little crazy...I thought that it would be good to post about theses things, since they are all somewhat significant and good in our lives. The number one thing being - Morgan got her drivers license!!! She is a real driver and it couldn't have come at a better time quite frankly. She got her license on March 30 - just weeks before cute Jiles decided to come. It made it alot easier for us to be in the hospital because she was able to do all the running around for the kids with soccer, dance, piano, church etc. She also took the kids to a movie one of the afternoons that we spent in the hospital. She is an amazing big sister and she played the role of "mom" really well. I am sure that she is so happy that it is over, but I think it was a good experience for her none the less. Can't believe that I have a girl that can drive!!

Number 2 significant thing was that we J.D. and I were able to get to take our girls to see "Wicked". We have seen it in New York and we loved it so we were so excited when we heard that it was coming through here! They both enjoyed it and so did J.D. and I - it was just as good the 2nd time around, and the cast was just as good as they were on Broadway. It is so fun to be able to share these kinds of experiences with my daughters. I hope they know how much I love them and how much I love to spend time with them. They are growing up so quickly and becoming such great people. I consider them to be 2 of my very best friends.

We somehow convinced my whole family (sisters not hard to convince, brothers and brothers-in-laws maybe a little harder) to join us on our evening. We had our tickets for nearly a year before the big night so we were all really happy that it was finally here. We went to dinner before and had a good time. The only ones missing (and they WERE missed) were Corey and Janeen. They had seen it before, couldn't find a babysitter so they ended up selling their tickets.
It was alot of fun!!

This is a picture of J.D., Morgan, and Brenna with our awesome friends the Coveys, Mary, Wid, Suzy and Big Wid behind us. We sat on the very front row - you could literally see spit coming out of the mouths of the people on stage. The seats were amazing (alot uncomfortable for a pregnant gal) but it was a great night to share my girls, my husband, my family and of fun to go with our friends too!

This is a picture that was taken on Easter Morning. We take one every year and the only bad thing about holiday pictures and growing kids is that you can't get everyone to match anymore. It is kinda sad. Of course, Drew and Jensen have matching ties and Brenna tried to go with the theme keeping a light green shirt in her outfit. Morgan is nearly impossible and Ella had a matching dress with all her girl cousins, compliments of Grandma Hackwell. Needless to say, they are all still darling but trying to get a picture, do Easter Baskets, and get ready to be in church by 9:00 a.m. was quite a feat, but we did it! Way to go Barnes kids!!

One of my favorite picture in hind sight - at the time I wanted to spank Ellas bum. I really wanted to get a cute picture of the neices in the dresses that my mom had made them. Ella decided that she was in no mood for pictures and would not look at the camera, so then Olivia and Aliza decided to follow in with the naughtiness and they all put their heads down, so here it is, the only picture that I have of the girls on Easter in their dresses. It's funny how sometimes things we think are so important are quickly forgotten about and I will now remember this picture more because of it.

Jensen hunting for eggs in our front yard. All the big kids hid the eggs and the little ones went out to find them. When you leave the hiding to 12 year old boys, the eggs REALLY get hid. It was hard for everyone to find their dozen eggs, but I think everyone had fun.

Ahhh, Ellas face!! My girl looking for her eggs too - The dress is so cute and my mom worked so hard on having them all done for the girls, Brittyn, Leah, Ella, Aliza and Olivia. Maybe some day we will get the group photo.

What would a family gathering be without a picture of Blake and Morgan!! They are so cute and I am glad that Morgan can be so cute with my baby brother. They are just a little over 3 years apart in age. When they were little they would fight over Grandmas lap - I am sure Blake felt like Morgan came in and took over his spot as the baby...Sorry Blake, I love you.

Our boy is home...

Yeah!! Jiles got to come home on Friday... This was taken just minutes after Drew, Jensen, and Ella met him for the first time. It was an emotional time for Drew. He cried when he was finally able to hold his new brother, and then Jensen Started to cry also...I don't know if his tears were real or if he thought it was what he was supposed to be doing. He is a funny kid. Drew is for sure my emotional one, and it touches me to have my 12 year old boy with such a soft spot in his heart.
This weekend has been nice finally having our family all together. It is nice not to be running to the hospital 2-3 times a day, arranging babysitters, meals and rides to and from dance, football, soccer etc. We have just all layed low. None of us even got dressed today. It has been kinda like I just had him on Friday - instead of him being 2 weeks old - I have slept, alot!! It is nice to be able to feel like I can just relax and be the mom. My favorite thing in the world.