One

One year ago today I gave birth to our baby girl, Sophie Nicole Barlow. I cannot believe she is already a year old. It went by way too fast! She is truly the sweetest little princess, and we love her so much. After such a long, hard pregnancy of being so sick she is our miracle baby and I am so grateful to our Heavenly Father for sending her down to us.

Happy First Birthday, Sophie! We love you more than words can express.

Kindergarten Opera

At the end of the school year Jackson and his kindergarten class performed an opera, called "Oh Good, the Fish are Saved!" Jackson was a turtle, and did such a great job! We are so proud of him! It was too cute for words! Watch for yourself!

11 months

She was not a happy girl with Mommy making her sit still for a picture and with that funny thing on her head! Recently we got that for her when we were at Disneyland! I think she is so cute with it on, but she will snatch it right off, she does not like things on her head!

There's our cute, happy girl!

I can't believe that in just 1 short week our little girlie will be one! Time sure does fly! She sure is keeping us on our toes these days. She is such a hoot! She recently has started loving baby dolls, and it is so cute! She has developed some peculiar habits recently. When she is excited, or thinks something is funny she will scrunch her nose, open her mouth (showing her vampiric teeth) and sniff in and out very rapidly for a few seconds. She likes to clap her hands, or wave her whole arm when someone waves at her. She is very shy, and will bury her head when she sees someone new. She is on her way to walking, she will walk around items, and stand up, but she will not do it without a hand-hold. She will walk if someone holds her hands, but it must be both hands. She can crawl very fast now, always on her toes, not her knees, because of how often she has been trapped in dresses, and cannot move. She hates anything on her feet, sock, shoes, clothing, she always tries to removes them, and calms down when her feet are freed. She likes to sleep in a way her feet can breath. She also does not like things on her head, or in her hair. She will remove them quickly, and stretch or chew them. She does not like to eat "baby" food, she always wants what we have, especially protein. She has a contest with herself every-time she eats, how much food she can fit in her mouth before she chokes. But, choking on food doesn't slow her down. She can eat as much as Jackson sometimes, and faster then he does. She will not eat anything she has not seen or felt in her fingers, anything we try to feed her is split out for inspection. She will try anything we give her, and we haven't found anything she won't eat. Recently she had a ball eating an ice cube, inspecting it as it shrank. She has a definite sweet tooth, she loves chocolate, and she can smell it in the other room. She still looks small, everyone is amazed she is almost a year old. She is on her way to gaining weight. We're grateful the condition she had that prevented weight gain (and forced us to introduce high fat foods sooner then expected) was benign. She like to play fetch, she tosses what over she has, and you get it. She won't hold on to her binky for long unless upset. She likes mirrors, and seeing herself. She also has already started into having temper tantrums. She will slam her face into the carpet when upset, and wants to be held, or sit and drag herself back and forth on the floor. We thought we had a while before they would start, but nope! Either way we still love her so much!!!

Easter!

Cute Jackson and Sophie on Easter Sunday in their Easter outfits!

I think this picture is so funny... Jackson is trying to give loves to Sophie, but she does not want anything for it. She does not like to hold still for pictures or anything!

The Easter Bunny came!

Jackson with his Easter basket, and so excited! He had been wanting that 'How to Train your Dragon' toy for the longest time, but we could never find it! Well, the Easter bunny was finally able to get it for him (Thanks Melanie and Wes for finding it for us!)

Sophie's First Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter spent with family! On Easter Sunday we had a yummy Easter dinner at my sister's house. The day before we had a fun day planned with the Barlow family. The kids got to dye eggs, and have a big Easter Egg hunt at Grandma Linda's house! Jackson loves any chance he gets to spend time with his cousins! Unfortunately, I did not take my camera with me, so I did not get any pictures :(

The colored eggs, candy, and easter baskets does not compare to the greatest gift we have all been given- eternal life. I am so very grateful to our Savior, for the ultimate sacrifice he gave for each and every one of us. He died for us that we may live again. I am grateful that through him, we can return to our Heavenly Father, and that our family can be together forever.

Jackson's 6th Birthday!

Since Jackson's birthday landed on a weekday this year after he got out of school we treated him to lunch of his choice, Panda Express, and went to the Hogle Zoo. It was a nice day, and we had lots of fun, but unfortunately we didnt really get any pictures of him on his actual birthday. We did however have his Birthday party on Saturday, the 26th. He has been obsessed with Transformers, so it was a no brainer that he wanted a Transformers party! It was his first birthday party that he invited friends from school, and he was oh so excited! So we had a full house with all of our family and his friends, but it was so much fun, and Jackson couldn't have been happier! Thanks to everyone that came!

On another note, I have a lot to catch up on everything with our California/Disneyland trip, Easter, and just life in general! We have been having so much fun!!!

3/23/2005

Today our little man turned 6 years old. I know, I still can't believe it... Seems like yesterday we were holding him in our arms for the first time. I remember being so scared beforehand, being a mom at age 19, but the moment he was placed in my arms I knew everything was just right, and I already felt so much love. I know he was meant to come into our lives when he did. He has changed our lives for the better.

Happy Birthday, Jackson! You bring so much happiness and love to our family with your infectious smile, and adorable personality, and we are so lucky you chose us to be your parents. We love you so much, sweet boy!

Seven Months

Dear Sophie,
7 months! I can't believe it! I know I say it a lot, but you are growing up way too fast, before our eyes! You are cuter and cuter everyday, and you have your own sweetest little personality! Your smiles and laughs are so adorable... you've even become a little bashful already, sometimes trying to hide those cute smiles of yours. You are such a playful little thing. You love to go in your exersaucer bouncer and play with the toys and just jump, jump, and jump! We have also tried the 'johnny jump up' and you really like that, and it's quite entertaining to watch you in it! You love to just sit on the floor and play with your toys. Last month at Christmas you got so many toys! I personally think the cutest one is the unicorn pillow pet Grandma and Grandpa Barlow got you. You absolutely love it, and it's about the size of you, so when you lay down and play with it on you, we can hardly see ya! You are sitting up so well now! You only fall over when you lean over to one side and can't stop yourself. You still don't like being on your tummy, but we're trying really hard to change that, to prepare for crawling. You are now only sleeping in your crib, and have done just fine with it. I'll admit though it was an adjustment for me, not having you right next to me in your bassinett. Your sleep patterns are a hit or miss, some nights you will sleep through the night, and others you will wake up once or twice. You are still fitting into 3-6 month clothes, and size 2 diapers. You're a tiny little thing! You hate having your feet covered, whether it be by a blanket, socks, or shoes. It's funny, cause you'll almost always just kick it off. You are starting to like baby food now. Your favorites are applesauce and pears and rasperries mixed. Sometimes we can't give it to ya fast enough! Your dislikes are peas and green beans, you'll just gag and spit it out. We're still tryin' though! I'm still nursing you, and it's going well. For awhile we would have a problem with you getting very easily distracted, but now you're doing better. When you're done, you'll definately let me know, by getting fussy and kicking and throwing yourself back. The last few weeks you have really recognized your voice, and will squeal and scream. You mumble "Ma, Ma, Ma" and "Da, Da, Da." It's the cutest thing! A new nickname I have for you sometimes is a little kitty, as you love to scratch things! Again, I still can't believe you are growing so fast. I wish there was a way to slow down time. I do love this age you are at though, you are just so adorable, and it's so fun to watch you learn new things. You amaze me everyday. I am so lucky to be your mama. I love you so much.
Love, Mommy




Here are months 6, 5, and 4.

2010

2010 was a great year! We had ours ups and downs like anyone else would, but it has definately been one of the best! Highlights were:

Buying our first home, and moving out to Tooele in February. It has been an adjustment, but a good one at that.

I quit my job at the end of Febuary, and became a stay at home mommy. I love being able to be home with my children. I cherish each and every day!

By far the best, adding the newest member to our family, Sophie Nicole Barlow born on June 5th, 2o10. She is such a blessing in our lives. She brings so much joy, cuteness, and love to our lives!

Andrew got promoted at Wells Fargo in June. His new official title is Business Application Specialist, and he is doing very well at it! He had to travel to Arizona in the middle of July for training, but luckily it was only for a week. We sure missed him while he was gone!

Jackson started kindergarten at the end of August. He loves going to school, and he has a great teacher, Mrs. Serr. I love when it comes time to go pick him up from school, and hearing all about how his days go. I mean don't get me wrong, I enjoy the time while he's at school, just me and Sophie, but I also miss him while he's gone.

Now for my resolutions for 2011:

* Spend less money, lower credit card debt.

* Blog more. I really enjoy being able to look back on our past, and see how far we've come, so this is a big one.

* Take a picture every day.

* Lose 20 lbs of excess baby weight. No more excuses, It's been 7 months already! I really need to get going. I started along the lines somewhere and lost a little bit, but like many other people, lost track.

* Work on my patience. Another big one.

* Strive to be a better wife, mother, and person in general.

Christmas

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas. We woke up at 8 on Christmas morning so we could open presents before my family came over for breakfast at 10 am. We actually had to wake Jackson up in the morning, he was so excited on Christmas Eve that after we were finished wrapping presents at midnight he was in his room pretending to sleep. Jackson got almost all of what he wanted this year. His favorites were his dinosaur pillow pet, dinosaur blanket, and the race track. It was so cute watching him and getting so excited opening his presents. Something I will treasure forever. It was Sophie's very first Christmas! She got a couple new books, a mermaid toy, and a few other small things, and she was happy with that! My family came at 10, we had a nice breakfast with them, opened presents, and had a fun white elephant gift exchange. We then headed up to Salt Lake for lunch with Andrew's family. We had such a nice turkey lunch, we opened gifts and had a fun white elephant gift exchange, and played the yearly traditional candy game. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures with either sides of our family, wish I would have. We had such a fun Christmas, but the best part of all was spending time together as a family.