Looking back on a year ago

I was looking back at some posts from this time last year. We were preparing to have Alyssa. We didn't even have a name picked out for her yet. I thought I was going to be induced, but was prepared for things to change at any minute. Good thing I was prepared, because nothing went as planned.

But this time last year I was at my last doctors appointment before Alyssa made her appearance. My mom had come to spend the day with me and learn our daily routine because she was supposed to spend my induction day here getting the kids off to school and home from school. But as I said those plans all quickly changed.

And now this year I am thinking about where the year has gone with Alyssa. She is perfect in every way. We have no party planned for her, but I am still trying to figure out a cake for her for Thursday. And planning a special dinner for her. And CJ and I have been practicing singing Happy Birthday to her. Kaitlyn keeps asking Alyssa what she wants for her birthday as if she understands or could answer her. Natalie wants a party, which we'll probably do at the end of the month.

And in 2 days my baby girl will turn one and we will find out what the groundhog predicts will happen for winter this year. It has been relatively mild this year, but I am still looking forward to the warmth of spring.

Barne's Bunch update

So I've been really quiet here on this blog. So I thought I would share with you all what the Barnes Bunch has been up to so far in 2012.

Starting with moi: I started a blogger internship recently which has been improving things over on my Monica's Mom Musings blog. Here was my first blog post on the Mom's Talk Network blog though: Teaching Our Daughters About Real Beauty And The Photoshop Effect. Other than my blogging stuff I am doing all the usual mommy stuff too. Cooking, cleaning, refereeing, homework help. Typical mom stuff.

Joe: He's working. Someone is retiring at the end of the month so we are hoping he gets promoted.

Natalie: She's doing pretty good in 7th grade this year. Finally adjusted to middle school and the expectations of her.

Kaitlyn: She's been playing her clarinet. She had a concert this past week and it was very impressive. For a group of kids who have only been playing an instrument for a few months they did great. She's also doing well in 4th grade and making lots of friends. She just went on a sleepover last week at a friends house and wanted to stay the whole weekend.

CJ: We have been buckling down on the potty training with CJ. He has been dry and poopy free during the day for over a week now. So proud of him. I am hoping once we fully get him trained during the day that night time training will be super easy and we can be done with diapers, at least for him. He's loving preschool this year. He's always talking about the kids in his class and makes up the funniest stories too. He has quite the imagination on him.

Alyssa: Well, she has been doing what babies do. She still has her gimpy crawl, but she gets from one point to the other pretty fast. She is cruising the furniture and she can stand up. No walking yet. She loves to eat and we have introduced coconut milk to her diet as well which she loves. That was supposed to be for CJ, but he won't drink it and Alyssa loves it. In less than 2 weeks Alyssa will be 1! Hard to believe.

So that's what's going on around here. I'll try to get some recent pictures up soon.

Happy 11 months Alyssa

Wow, 11 months old. Just 31 days until my baby girl turns 1. I can't believe it! She has been growing by leaps and bounds. We were worried about her weight a little, but I don't think we really have to worry. She is still breastfeeding, but she also loves to eat. She eats everything too. I made fajitas for dinner last night and while the rest of the kids were picking out the peppers and onions Alyssa was eating them. Joe had steak fajitas and she even ate some of his steak. There really hasn't been much we have found that she won't eat. She even ate pulled pork on Christmas Eve at my aunt's house.

She has just the two teeth, but she puts them to good use.

She still does the scoot crawl. I've never seen anything like it. It almost looks like she's just going to stand up and take off. Joe thinks she'll be walking before she turns 1. I don't think so. I might be eating my words.

She is cruising. Tonight she was standing at the couch and wanted to get to the coffee table. She was reaching for it and it was almost out of her reach. I think she might have been thinking about taking a few steps. I don't know though.

She is standing now for about a minute at a time. Definitely getting stronger on her feet.

She still is only saying Dada. She claps her hands together. She is a mama's girl most of the time, but there are definitely times when she prefers Daddy. She has the biggest brightest smile that lights up any room. She even had her haircut already. These past 11 months have been wonderful with her and I look forward to celebrating her first birthday with her next month.

Here are a few more pictures of the 11 month old...

So precious

What mom?

So happy

Lounging around

So this month I will be throwing myself into a very special 1st birthday party for Alyssa. Butterflies, dragonflies, and caterpillars have been an unexpected theme in her year. So that's what I have to work with.

Out with the old and in with the new

As we say goodbye to 2011 and hello to 2012 like everyone I have been looking back on the year. I have to say 2011 wasn't a bad year for us. Of course the birth of Alyssa made it extra special, but we had a lot of change in our family.

Adding a 4th child to the mix was of course the biggest change. But having three kids in three different schools. CJ started riding the school bus this year. Natalie got into the Avid program. Kaitlyn thrived in school. It was a great year and I'm a little sad to see it go.

I am looking forward to 2012 though. Alyssa's 1st birthday to start the year. Then after Natalie, Kaitlyn, and CJ make it through this school year they will start some important school year milestones. Natalie will begin her final year of middle school, Kaitlyn will start her final year of elementary school, and CJ will start his first truly official year of school with Kindergarten. This time next year I figure I'll be looking into different options for what we'll do for Kaitlyn for middle school. At this point in time I'm not entirely convinced that public middle school is the place for her and she might be better suited in a Montessori school for middle school. The last half of this school year for her is going to be crucial.

We hope to take a trip to Florida this year too to see family we haven't seen in way too long. So it's going to be an exciting year in 2012. We're sorry to see you go 2011, but looking forward to seeing what 2012 will bring The Barnes Bunch!

A Barnes Bunch Very Merry Christmas

All of the planning and anticipation for the big day and it flies by in a flash. But I can say it was a great one this year. We were together and we were happy and we were loving which is all I can ever ask for on Christmas. Our gift opening began at about 9 a.m. after everyone had used the bathroom. And there was plenty of happiness in the day...

Kaitlyn bringing the gifts she got for everyone into the living room.

Kaitlyn realizes that it's a desk and it's all hers!

Natalie opening her first gift

Kaitlyn is excited that she got crayons!

CJ got Perry

Oooh flying monkies!

"Yay, a new one book"

Oooh, a crystal growing kit.

A slinky!

CJ opening a puzzle

A new book

Connect 4, now she has all of them

Yay, markers!

Cars!

Natalie got a Kindle

He got Handy Manny

What could it be?

The big truck he wanted!

A vibrating ball

Yay!

A plate and fork and spoon set

Alyssa got some blocks

What's in here?

She wanted her vibrating ball back

Okay you can open this now

CJ has a lot of fun with this one, so far Alyssa has had little interest in it

After all of the dust settled and everyone was happily playing with the toy of the hour I started breakfast. Pancakes, omelettes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage. Tons of food. Then we checked out the movie schedule while the kids played some more. We went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. Alyssa's first movie, but she hadn't napped much. So half way through the movie I couldn't get her to settle so I spent the rest of the movie out in the lobby walking her around. I popped in every once in a while, but I missed the last half. The kids had a good time though so that's all that matters. We came home and spent the rest of the evening playing with our new stuff. Alyssa got really cranky and wouldn't go to sleep. She was so out of her routine. All in all it was a great Christmas though.

Barnes Bunch Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve, like has been the tradition for the past 3 years, was spent at my Aunt and Uncle's house with my parents, my cousin, her husband, and my Aunt's brother. Joe had to work later than usual on Christmas Eve this year so we arrived late. Which of course left me with the huge task of helping 4 children get dressed, do their hair, get baths and showers, as well as get myself ready. This way we could mostly just run out the door as soon as Joe got home from work. It of course didn't work quite that well, but we were out the door by the time I had planned to be which is a good thing.

We arrived at my aunt and uncle's house and were quickly served some delicious food. It might have been a good thing that we were late since everyone had already eaten, I actually got to enjoy a hot meal because my mom sat and fed Alyssa. She ate everything too.

After eating we opened gifts. Everyone got just what they wanted. So we ended up with some very happy children.

Alyssa's a happy baby

CJ goofing around

Pretty Kaitlyn

Pretty Natalie

Alyssa's big blue eyes

Alyssa's starting to stand on her own

Tried getting a shot of Alyssa's whole outfit, including the special diaper cover I had made to go with her dress

We left my Aunt and Uncle's house way later than we would have liked and didn't get home until about 11. The kids were exhausted though and went right off to bed with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. And Joe and I settle in to start the arduous chore of wrapping everything. Yes, we leave it all to Christmas Eve. We were done by 1 a.m. though and here was what we were left with...

The stockings hung by the door with care (since we have no chimney)

Joe and I went to bed and got to sleep until about 8:30. Well, unfortunately that wasn't uninterrupted sleep since Alyssa still gets up, but it wasn't too bad. Check back later for our Christmas morning pictures...

Putting up our Christmas tree

Yesterday we were busy busy busy. We started the day by rearranging the living room in preparation for putting up the tree. Joe went and got the tree out of the basement and all the other holiday decorations. We got the tree up and lights on before we had to leave to go to a friend's birthday party. We came home, had dinner, and got right to work on the actual tree decorating.

Alyssa's excited to get this tree decorated

CJ putting an ornament on the tree

Kaitlyn putting an ornament on the tree

Alyssa pulling herself to a stand

CJ wanted to show me his ornament

Angel Celeste Alia is always a part of us

CJ making a funny face

Looking at the tree from the inside out

The final product

I love our tree. It's so pretty! Alyssa is fascinated with the ornaments and has been batting around the ones on the bottom and pulling them off. We keep distracting her from the tree and showing her that we just look at how pretty it is. I'm sure we'll be doing this everyday until the tree comes down, but I refuse to have a tree that isn't fully decorated or a gated tree. She has to learn sometime. Nothing breakable is on the bottom that she can get and there are enough of us to keep a close eye on her.

And of course with the putting up of the Christmas tree comes lots of discussion about why we celebrate Christmas and stories about each of the special ornaments that go on the tree. They all have some sort of special meaning and history for our family.