Christmas Eve 2011

I'm in love with my little family!! I get so much joy out of watching the excitement in the kids eyes with the holiday spirit.

This morning when I checked the baby monitor, I could not see William so I assumed he was awake and playing where the camera doesn't show. Well, I was wrong. This is what I found when I went into his room.

When I asked him why he was in the closet, he told me he was hiding from the trains!

Um...ok!

Tonight we got to open our jammies! Or should I say, William opened everyone's jammies!

Poor Daddy was sick all day, so he was all bundled up while he watched Will open the presents.

This is the first year William is really understanding the Santa thing, and it's so much fun!

Before bed we put out cookies cookie for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph.

It started out as multiple cookies, but Will ate one.

And then he tried to eat the carrot and when I told him no he informed me "carrot make Will fly like Reindeer". 

Then he started to run around the room with his arms out making the "shoooom" flying sound!

LOVE THAT KID!

Santa had hit our house by 9:30!! Gotta love an early Santa!

Santa tracked snow into the house and even left the kids a note.

But boy, that Rudolph is a MESSY eater. There are carrot slivers all over the floor by the door.

But Santa left the kids a ton of presents.

I can't wait to see their excitement while they open them all tomorrow!

"SANTA!...I know him"

I love any reason to celebrate, and so now that the holidays are here...it's really time to play! I've been trying to do something "extra" everyday for the kiddos. Something with a Christmas theme, and something to build a memory.

William has been watching some fun Holiday movies. "The Polar Express" and "Santa Clause is coming to town" are his two favorites. I didn't think he would be old enough this year to know or understand Santa, but I'm sure due to these movies, he's loving the idea of Santa!

Today we got invited by our friends, the Hallows, to go visit Santa and 2 of his reindeer up at Weber State. 

We were waiting in line when Santa showed up, and boy did William love it. He didn't want to stand in line after that. He kept trying to run to the front just to see Santa. When it was our turn, Will was the only 2 year old who wasn't screaming when it came time to sit on Santa's lap.
As soon as I picked him up to put him on Santa's lap, he started talking his ear off. Neither Santa or I could get a word in.  I was lucky enough to get a few pictures as he took a break to yell "cheese".

Gracie loved the candy cane she got from Santa!



After seeing Santa, we went outside to see the reindeer. After we got home, William asked me why they weren't flying! lol, too cute. I had to explain to him they have to save up their energy for Christmas Night!

I can't wait for the rest of the month and all the fun celebrating we get to do!





The big 2!

Last week was William's 2nd birthday!!! I can not believe that he is already 2 years old. It seems like just yesterday we were finding out we were pregnant for the first time. What a crazy life it has been having him in our life, and I love every minute of that craziness....well MOST every minute!

To celebrate his birthday we started the day with opening presents!! He was more amuzed with the wrapping paper than opening it. Guess that's what I get for having animal paper!

We then met Grandma at Thanksgiving Pointe to go to the Farm Country. Of course, he was in heaven. He even rode the pony all by himself (after a little hesitation), and went back for another ride!

What was going to be a trip to the Farm Country ended up also being a trip to the Kids Garden as well as a ride on the golf cart in the main garden at Thanksgiving Pointe. What more could a kid ask for on his birthday?!....Arctic Circle!

Yup, we had his birthday dinner at Arctic Circle. He ate french fries, a rice crispy treat, Dr Pepper and a chocolate ice cream cone! He also wore himself out on the play place!

What a fabulous birthday!

On Saturday for his party, we rented a bounce house/slide combo. Wow, talk about the highlight of William's year. He didn't go in the house for almost a complete 8 hours. He LOVED that thing. Probably the best money spent in a long time.

And boy do I have amazing pictures from it.

"Picnik Show"

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Gracie JAYNE Barker

When we were trying to come up with names for our baby girl, I knew I somehow wanted to give her a "family" name. Something that would be meaningful. Especially since William has a full family name, she needed something special as well.

And of course, it needed to be from my side of the family!

Sean came up with her first name, Gracie, and for some reason after that it just fell together!

Jay - My Dad is the most amazing man I've ever met. Gracie will grow up to be so proud to have been named after him.

Jane - Jane Mifflin is my Mom's best friend and just like my second mom. She has always been a part of my life and hopefully will always be a part of Gracie's as well.

Somehow putting the two names together sounded just perfect. That's how we came up with Gracie JAYNE Barker.

On a side note, it wasn't until earlier this week that my dad realized that Gracie was named after him!! haha. Although he had the conversation multiple times, with multiple people! I guess that's what old age will do to ya (j/k Dad!)

Gracie with her Grandpa

Gracie with Auntie Jane

Gracie will be proud to carry that name when she's old enough to realize where she got it. Who wouldn't be proud to be named for these two?

24th Marquiss Family Dinner

Last night we had a family dinner at my parents house down in PG to celebrate the holiday!
Unfortunately Sean has been on-call for work all week, and was stuck working in the heat all day yesterday.
So I packed up the kids and headed down early in the day hoping my parents would entertain William and take him swimming. Being that I can't "submerge in water" for 6 weeks after the c-section, I couldn't take him myself. We got there, and my parents were already in the pool!! We I threw William in with them, and Gracie and I sat and relaxed while they played.

William did FABULOUS in the water. Earlier in the year I took him to Lehi's city pool, but we stayed in the 2 foot deep section. So the only times he has been swimming were last week when he stayed with my parents, and yesterday. You wouldn't know it though, because he took off swimming with no help but a noodle under his arm. He even slipped off the noodle and went all the way under but kicked himself back up to the surface!! I was so proud of my little water boy!

When he was not in the big pool, he was playing in the sand box, the kiddie pool, or feeding the chickens. That kid is such a non-stop personality that wears everyone out!

I took over 150 pictures last night (can you say I'm addicted to my camera?!) But somehow narrowed it down to not as many!

My parents neighbors have a train they made out of barrels and pull with a 4 wheeler or a riding lawn mower. Dad borrowed it to take the grandkids for a ride. I decided to tag along to get some pictures....bad idea 2 weeks after a c-section! At least the pictures turned out.

Each kid picked an animal that they wanted their car to be.

Hendrix - Cow

Dakota - Pig

Heather/Marley - Goat

Marley - Horse

William/Grandma - Elephant

Spending time with my family is the best!

Washington!

Well, we officially made it to Washington in one piece!!

William did amazing on the flight here. Far better than I ever could have asked for.

The plane was almost completely full, but not too full that he didn't end up with his own seat. He looked like such a big boy sitting all by himself buckled in for take off and landing.

And we lucked out in getting a family with a little boy in front of us, and a mom with 2 little ones behind us. So William spent the majority of the flight going from looking over one seat, to looking over the other.

The family in front of us even recognized me from Plato's. I always feel bad when people know me, but I don't know them! But they were so amazing and far more pleasant with William than anyone in their right mind would have been!

The 2 boys shared all of their snacks the whole trip, and when William would get sick of whatever was in his mouth, he found it necessary to take it out and hand it to the other mom. Poor girl just took it, laughed, and didn't even seem to mind. What a great lady!

William did NOT like the take off.
He had a window seat and found it entertaining to watch everything zoom by so fast, but when it came to the actual lift off and, well everything until we leveled out, he freaked out. He had to be hugging my arm and distracted with something else.
Fortunately the lady sitting next to me in the aisle seat did a great job of entertaining him during the descent that I don't think he even knew what was happening until we touched down.

When getting off the plane, William refused to be carried, but also walked EXTREMELY slow. I'm sure that everyone behind us were getting really upset, but everyone today seemed to be extremely understanding of the hugely pregnant lady with a wildly active child!

Even the airport was understanding and gave Kathy and Ron a pass to get thru security and meet us at the gate! William was so excited as we turned the corner and he saw Grandma standing there. His tired and slow little legs kicked into full speed and he ran all the way into her arms!

We are now safe and sound at their beautiful house in this amazing city. I can't wait for what the next few days are going to bring. It is so exquisite here, and William is happier than ever being with Grandma and Grandpa Ron.

I have some more pictures, but the camera cord is in the room where William is sleeping, so I will post them later!

Happy Places

Today has been one of those painful pregnancy days. One where you just want to go to bed so that the day can be over! But then I look at my amazing William and remember why it is all worth it!

I thought I would share one of the things that makes me happy the most!

I love looking at pictures of William learning something new, playing with no cares in the world, and being with those he loves most!

This week we went to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point for Marley's birthday. It was so much fun to watch all of the kids, and William loved everything about it!

"RAAAAAAAR"
I should have kept tally as to how many times William said that while there. He is always proud that he knows his animal sounds!

Pretty much all of the time, the pictures speak for themselves. These 5 kids have a blast together!

I love my family!!!