Time Flies!!

Ok so it's been forever since I've posted anything on this blog. I really enjoy doing it and wish I had kept up with it better. I am going to try again!

The last post stated we were expecting baby #2 and we still are, but not for much longer. Only 4 weeks till D-Day! We are excited, but definitely not ready for the "little man" to arrive. It's been a really great pregnancy once again and we have been so blessed throughout.

A lot of changes have happened in our house in the past few months. Angel and I have had some major adjustments. I went back to work in October and had to put my little girl in daycare. She has adjusted amazingly well and enjoys playing with her friends on a daily basis. I am loving my job, but miss being home with Angel at the same time. It's been a huge adjustment, but a good one for both of us.

I started leading a Woman's Bible Study in September. We had an amazing group of women (21) that thoroughly enjoyed studying the book of Daniel through a Beth Moore Bible Study. It was amazing and very enjoyable. As of tonight, we are beginning a new study. We will be looking at the Beth Moore, Esther "It's Tough Being a Woman" study...another amazing study! I am so excited about the opportunity to grow and learn with these women. Oh did I mention that the group has GROWN to 26 women and we encourage all women to join us. We have a great time worshipping and sharing together every Tuesday night.

A quick update on Little Angel's life. I already told you she is enjoying her daycare, but that's only the beginning of her adventures. She has quite the imagination. She loves being mommy's little helper. She enjoys pretending that she is cooking with her new kitchen, talking on the phone, riding her 4-wheeler (she calls it her bike), and playing with her baby dolls. She is quite the character and keeps us very entertained. She also loves giving mommy back rubs, without any argument from mommy of course.

Jon is enjoying his job, but is majorly stressed out with it right now. He became the head computer coordinator for the school district as of Jan 1. He's feeling the stress and pressure of taking on a role like this, plus the added stress of changing over to a new system. It's been a challenge, but he's always up for a challenge. He has really adjusted well in the school district and seems to be enjoying working with the personnel as well as the students. He is continuing his online courses to complete his degree as well. He keeps busy with these activities, as well as with the farm, cutting wood to keep our furnace going, and doesn't get much time to just relax. He's a great provider for his family, we have been very blessed to have such a wonderful man as a husband and father!

I guess I'll end this for now and try to update a little more often so they aren't so lengthy. God Bless!!

NEWS! NEWS! NEWS!

Ok so it's been a long time since I've written on my blog...SORRY!! It's been crazy busy around here. We are definitely looking forward to it slowing down some.

Yesterday was an exciting day for us here at the Barnes house. We finally got a contract on our house in VA and are on the road to putting that place behind us. Once we get that taken care of we can move ahead with purchasing our home here in KS. We are very excited!

Then to top off that good news, we also found out we are expecting our second child! Angel is going to be a big sister!! She is already preparing for it, even though it's a ways away. Angel gave up her passy, and has now gone two full days and two nights without it. She's doing great!! I'm so proud of her! We have really noticed that Angel is becoming quite the little helper too. She is always wanting to help do whatever it is I am doing. She helps clean house (throw trash away, put dirty laundry in washer, etc), shut doors, pick up toys and put them away, etc. She's turning into a big girl!

God has really blessed us!

Smarty Pants!

We have a "little miss smarty pants" on our hands! Angel has been learning very quickly! Tonight she surprised us with a couple of her "smarty pants" moves.

While I was working on my school work and Jon was fixing dinner, Angel decided that the house needed to be cleaned up...which it does by the way! She went around the family room, picking up the trash, and taking it one piece at a time to the trash can...saying "trash, trash" all the way there. The funny part is that she knew what was trash and what wasn't. Once she picked up everything that could be thrown away, she decided to pick up the dishes and take them to daddy in the kitchen as well. She took his glass to him and her bowl that she had her snack in. What a big helper she is!!

The other incident that really got me laughing, was at bath time. I said "you ready to go get your bath" and she started her usual "yes yes" nodding her head. So off to take a bath we went. I started the water and was using the restroom before putting her in the tub. She was doing her usual prancing around the bathroom, talking up a storm..then she started toward the door. I said "you need to come take your bath". She came back to the tub and looked in it, then turned away. I said, "you have to take your clothes off so you can get a bath". Much to my surprise she leaned down and grabbed her pant legs of her one piece outfit, and pulled them up toward her head trying to take it off. What a smarty pants!!

What a week!!!!

Well it's been a crazy week here at the Barnes household! I started out being sick at the beginning of the week and haven't completely recovered yet. I had an ear infection that caused one ear to close completely, allowing me to hear absolutely nothing with that ear. I also had an upper respiratory infection to go along with it. By the end of the week, I was back at the doctor's office getting more medicine for a sinus infection. Hopefully I'll be feeling better soon!

Jon went into the hospital on Tuesday and stayed there until Thursday. I was fortunate to be able to spend the nights in a recliner next to his bed. Thanks to my mom and dad, I didn't have to worry about Angel being taken care of though! Mom was so kind to take off work and watch Angel for me, then she ended up sick too. They "think" Jon had some major infection in his gallbladder ducts and possibly a gall stone, even though he had his gallbladder removed last year. He will have a follow up appointment next week to make sure things are still under control. But he's feeling much better after many bags of antibiotics, pain meds, anti-nausea meds and was sent home with more pain meds and antibiotics.

Angel got sick while her daddy was in the hospital with the stomach flu. Thanks to Granny (my mom), I didn't have to deal with the vomiting and diarrhea. Unfortunately, Granny caught what I had and has been feeling pretty crummy too. Wow, what a week...hope we don't relive that one!!

An Eternity!!

Ok it's been an eternity since I've blogged! I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to update you on what's going on with the Barnes' family. We have been very busy!!

We moved to Kansas and are working on getting settled into our new home. We love it here on our 12 acre farm! God has really blessed us to be able to get such a wonderful place. It's amazing to us how everything has just fallen into place from the very beginning, God really is AWESOME!!

Angel has been growing and learning! Well the growing is slow, but the learning is not so slow. She hasn't changed much in size, but her intelligence and abilities are constantly changing. According to her skill level test done at the doctor's she is several months ahead of her age, they are always impressed with how much she can do. Her Aunt Melanie is most impressed with her ability to wink with one eye (which she has been doing since 10 months old). She is quite the copy-cat and enjoys trying to make people laugh. She's a little ham! She loves to be the center of attention just like her daddy.

Here is a picture of Angel cheesing for the camera! In the background is her new puppy, Foxy (a Toy Australian Shepard).


Here Angel is playing basketball, she's got quite an arm on her!


Here are a couple pictures of Angel's new puppy, Foxy! She's a beauty!! She is a Toy Australian Shepard.


More pictures and updates to come in the near future.

VERY SPECIAL DAY!!

Today is a very special day for us! Angel turned 1 YEAR OLD TODAY! She is so sweet! We told her that it was her birthday and she was 1 now; she started clapping and said "YEA!!" What a cutie!

It's been amazing to watch Angel the past couple weeks; she has changed so much. She is really learning new things and growing up so fast. The progress is amazing to me and to be able to watch life happen through a child's eyes is awesome; you begin to see how unimportant things really are.

Jon is enjoying his new job at the school as the assistant technology coordinator. He's learning his way around my old stomping ground (which has changed a lot in the past 10 years...now I'm dating myself). I'm a little nervous about what kind of stories he might hear about me, but so far I've only been told there have been positive things said...surely there aren't any bad things to be said about me ;-)

Everyone here is sick (except me), so I'm having to be the nurse! Hopefully I won't catch the nasty mess that's going around! We are hoping everyone will be better by this weekend and then we will be able to celebrate Angel's Birthday!! Not much else to report on this end. No pictures still, not even sure where the camera is packed right now...guess I better find it before we have a birthday party!

Lots Happening!!

The Barnes' household has been hopping lately with lots of change! We have spent the last month making numerous major changes. Jon got a job working "in my old stomping ground"; he's working for the school district that I graduated from! And as most of you know this took us from living in Virginia to living in Kansas. It's an exciting change for us and we are really enjoying our first week back, with lots of snow to enjoy.

We made the trip back to Kansas from Saturday afternoon to Monday night, it was a quick trip! We were concerned how it would affect Angel and the animals. They all did very well. Angel was a champ...she didn't fuss a bit! The bird, Trip, talked the entire way back...helped to keep us awake. Daisy, Angel's puppy, slept the entire way back. They all did great; we were very blessed!

Angel has been changing a lot on her own as well. She is growing up so fast. She will be a year old this week, 4 days in counting. She has started to take steps on her own now. Over just a two day period she has gone from taking two steps on her own to walking about 6 steps down the hall on her own. She's so precious! She is talking all the time and the amazing thing is you can actually understand some of what she is saying...if you can talk like a southerner ;-)

Angel has adjusted really well to all the change. I've been very surprised to see her adjust so well. We are hoping to have our own home soon, but are enjoying staying with Granny and Papa for now. Angel is loving all the attention! We are blessed to have such wonderful family!

No pictures for now, been too busy to take pictures unfortunately. Hopefully I will get back on the ball soon.