Reading Nook!

Angel found herself a quite reading nook today! She thought it was great until she realized that she wasn't able to get out on her own, without falling and getting hurt. She enjoyed playing a game of crawling into the bottom of the end table, only to make mama come rescue her when she wanted out. Oh well, at least she had fun! Here are a few photos of the Angel in her new hiding place!







"Mommy look I'm in jail!!"

First Christmas!

This was a very special year for us...Angel's first Christmas! We had a great day. We got up and had breakfast before opening gifts. By the time Jon and I were ready to open the gifts Angel had already started ripping into hers. She had a great time, but got bored with it really quick. She would open a gift and want to play with it rather than open anymore. I think she had more fun getting on top of the packages and sliding back and forth on them, then opening them.

Angel and Aunt Maddie chillin' while they wait to open presents!


Angel's new baby doll, she loves her babies!


Angel playing with her new singing horse, she got from Peepaw and Meemaw!


Angel kissing her new Pound Puppy!


After we opened gifts and played a while, we took a nap...our favorite time of day! Then we got up and headed to Grandmother Barnes' for our big family Christmas. The guys all went hunting and then we had dinner together, before opening gifts. It was a nice time with family! Angel was burned out on opening gifts, but we managed to get her to open a few. Although Angel was exhausted, she had a great time and got some really cool things!

Hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas! God Bless You All!

Putting Words Together!

We are so amazed at our little Angel! She is growing up so fast! Angel has been talking some for the past couple months; saying Dada, Mum (Mama), Zack (Uncle), Nana (Aunt Hannah). We were very impressed that she was able to say words so early. Now we are even more amazed, as she has been putting words together. She now says; Aunt Nana, love you, and mum mum's baby. She's getting more and more clear with her words.

We have had several Christmas parties already and have enjoyed watching Angel open gifts. She loves to rip into the presents. It was amazing to watch her as she opened each gift. She was so interested in what each gift was that she didn't want to go on to the next one. We will see how she does tomorrow, when she will open gifts at home and then again at her Great-Grandmother Barnes' house.

We would like to WISH YOU ALL A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS once again! Hope your Christmas is as Blessed as ours has been!

Family!

We love the holiday season! It means time with family and friends...our favorite part of this time of year. We are especially enjoying it this year since we have Angel! We have had several parties already and are looking forward to many more!

This past weekend we went to Statesville, NC to celebrate with the Lundy side of the family. It was awesome because all the family was together for the first time in years. We had fun catching up with everyone and enjoyed taking family pictures.

Here's a picture of the whole Lundy gang!


Here is a picture of our family with Grandmother Lundy!


This weekend and Christmas day we will be celebrating with the Barnes side of the family. We are looking forward to that as well. We are so blessed to have such a large family and always enjoy getting together when we can.

The Smith side of the family already got together a couple weeks ago. That was enjoyable too. We had a nice dinner and fun just hanging out. Angel enjoyed playing with all the little cousins and aunts and uncles. She loves attention and always gets a lot of it when we are together with the family.

Unfortunately we won't get to see my side of the family for Christmas this year. We were in KS in October and are hoping to go back again soon. Distance makes it difficult for us to get together much, but we really enjoy the times we are together. We will be with our KS family in thoughts and prayers this year!


Here is a picture of the "TV Watchin Buddies"...they look like twins! I was trying to get them to look at me, but the TV seemed to be more interesting. Angel is definitely daddy's little girl!

My Little Angel!

Angel had a rough day yesterday! She had surgery to remove a mass on her lip. We had to leave the house at 5am to get her to the hospital for her procedure. She was quite a little trooper though. She didn't fuss one bit the entire day. The surgery only took 20 minutes from the time they put her to sleep until they had her awake.

The nurses and doctor were very impressed with how well behaved Angel is. They said she never cried one tear the entire time. And she was smiling and talking to everyone. There were 3 other babies the same age as Angel there having surgery...none of them were as well mannered as Angel. How blessed I am to have such a wonderful child!!

We spent the rest of the day in the car, running errands. Jonathan and I had a Christmas party to go to last night. Angel stayed with a babysitter for the first time...someone other than family (we consider them family though), that is! She had a great time. It was nice for Jonathan and I to be able to have some time to ourselves, but we missed having our little Angel with us.

Today Angel is wore out! She didn't wake up till noon. While she was playing, she laid down and fell asleep on the floor...WORE SLAM OUT! We want to thank you all for your prayers and keep on praying...we can always use the prayers. We want to wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Santa's Lap!

Our Church Christmas party was last night. We had a great time. Jonathan got to take pictures of all the kids sitting on Santa's lap. Angel got to sit on Santa's lap for the first time and she really enjoyed that...she couldn't stop staring at him. I took a picture of one of the ornaments on our tree and the picture that Jon took of Angel and Santa, and I combined them...here it is!



Isn't she so sweet!?! Can't believe Christmas is almost here already.

Eventful Days

Well we have had some very eventful days here in Virginia. Friday was not a very good day. It was all normal until Angel woke up from her nap. She decided that she was old enough to get out of her crib on her own instead of waiting for mom to get her...she climbed right out of the crib and went head first onto the hardwood floor. Mom about had a heart attack! So after getting her settled down, I checked her over good and then we headed to the ER to make sure everything was ok. I cried the entire way to the hospital...Angel just laughed, jabbered, and carried on like her normal self. She obviously didn't learn a lesson from the incident, in the hospital she was trying to crawl off the end of the bed and do flips off her daddy's lap onto the floor...she's not afraid of anything! We came out of the whole situation in good shape though. Angel only suffered a tiny goose egg on her forehead and a bruise that went down her forehead a little ways. Needless to say the crib mattress got lowered as soon as we got home to the bottom position.

Saturday we spent the day celebrating Christmas with Jon's mom's side of the family. It was really nice, a relaxing and fun time. And we enjoyed seeing family that we hadn't seen since before Angel was born. Angel had fun playing with all the little kids and getting all the attention. She's quite the little drama queen and loves to have attention...she's a Barnes that's for sure!

Today we had a nice relaxing day. We went to Church this morning and enjoyed that as always. Jonathan and I got a few things done while Angel took her nap, which is always nice to feel like we've accomplished a little something. Then after dinner we FINALLY decorated our Christmas Tree that has been sitting here with only lights on it for over a week. It's really pretty and we enjoyed decorating it with our little Angel! She had fun looking at and playing with some of the ornaments as I pulled them out...she even helped us hang some of them.

Be praying for our family this week. Friday will be a busy day. Angel will be going to the doctor about getting the place on the inside of her lip cut out...it will be a scheduled surgical procedure. Then we will be traveling to Statesville, NC for a Christmas get together with Jon's biological dad's family...this will be a very special Christmas for this side of the family, everyone will be there this year which hasn't happened since way before Jonathan and I got together. His cousin is even going to be there from Alaska with her fiance. We are really looking forward to seeing everyone and for everyone to get to see Angel!

Messy Tradition!

The Barnes' family tradition is becoming a very messy one! Jonathan and I love Christmas time and enjoy our traditions that we have brought from two totally separate lives into our own family. One of the traditions that we enjoy is decorating for Christmas and the night that we decorate we make a bunch of finger foods to eat. As we were getting ready to to do our decorating last night (a little later this year due to Jon's surgery), I was in the kitchen cooking. Angel was enjoying the food as I was making it. Here are a couple pictures of her enjoying herself during our "messy" tradition!



Can you imagine what she will look like on her birthday!?! As messy as she was, she's still cute as can be! She really enjoyed smearing the food all over her face; she enjoyed having her picture taken even more...she loves to cheese for the camera!

These are the moments I treasure! And someday Angel will be embarrassed by them! We are looking forward to a fun filled Christmas! We will be starting our celebrations with family gatherings, parties, and fun with friends...all beginning this weekend and continuing through the New Year! Hope this Christmas is as special for all our friends and family as it is for us!! We love you all!

December Already!

Well it's December already! Christmas is almost here, as is the end of the year. I can't believe how quick this year has gone. We are looking forward to Christmas this year more than ever before, have a little one really makes Christmas more special!

Angel had her 9 month appointment at the doctor's on Friday. We got a good report on her growth and her skills. The doctor was most impressed with how well she is doing. She is showing motor skills that should be exhibited by a 12 month old. Her speech is also advanced to a 12 month old stage. She is saying words, not just gibberish. She likes to make lots of different noises with her mouth, as well. We are working on learning new things each day. She is learning eyes, nose, mouth, and hair right now. She loves to clean...she wipes dust off things, cleans her highchair tray off, and wipes her face off while eating. Some of her favorite words to say are: Hi (and wave), Dada, Mama or Mum, and Zack (one of her many uncles). Angel is a very quick learner, she knows the word "NO" and usually obeys when you tell her not to mess with something.

We did get some not so good news at the doctor's. Angel has a little pouch full of fluid on the inside of her bottom lip. It has been there since she was 4 months old. It continues to get bigger and is not going away like it should be. Therefore, we are going to have to have it cut out....OUCH! We will be going to an ENT doctor for this procedure. We have an initial appointment with the ENT on Friday, Dec 14 to find out exactly what they will have to do and when. Please be praying for her, although it's a "mild" problem and can be taken care of...it seems huge to me because it's my little girl who is only 9 months old! Maybe I need the prayer ;-)

Well I must go for now as the little one is upset cause I just told her NO...more news later!

Long Time!

It's been a long time since I've posted to my blog and for that I apologize. Things have really been crazy around our house the past few weeks. My laptop crashed and I was without a computer part of the time. I just recently got my new laptop set up, so I am back online and able to post again. Let me see if I can remember some of the things that have happened since my last post over a month ago.

We went to KS for two weeks at the end of October and had a great time! It went by really fast though. We enjoyed visiting family and friends. Angel made a new friend, "Pu Pu" (my mom's dog named Pugsy, Angel could only say Pu Pu). They became best friends very quick and enjoyed playing with each other and sharing their toys.

Angel's first Halloween was spent in KS as well. We went trick-or-treating with my brother's family. Angel was a rainbow baby, and an adorable one! The kids all had a great time, as did the adults.

My brother showed off his talent in carving an awesome pumpkin...should have entered it in a contest! I was sure impressed! Not sure how many hours were spent on this masterpiece.


We went to Mission Lake to take pictures of Granny & Papa with all the grandkids. This is the first time we have taken pictures of them all with their Granny & Papa. For some reason when we did our family pictures, we forgot to take one. It was cool to have a chance to take the pictures and to do it outside. We got pictures of the 4 generations of women, while visiting my grandma and grandpa. I will treasure these moments forever, as will Angel.

It was hard saying goodbye at the end of the two weeks. Angel and Granny really had a hard time saying good bye; they were touching hands through the glass at the airport.

Since we've been back, Jon has had last minute surgery to remove his gallbladder. He's been working two jobs as well. I'm still staying home with Angel and working on my master's degree. Jon is planning to start working on his degree in January as well. As you can see we are keeping busy!

Angel turned 9 months old today! WOW...she is really growing up fast! We are excited about her first Christmas...it should be interesting! Here are a few more pictures of her that we have taken since we've been home from KS. She is the spitting image of her Dada, she even has the laptop to prove it!

Way to My Heart!

It's amazing how Angel knows the way to mommy's heart! She has a way of always brightening my day. Angel has one of the most catching laughs in the world. Time and time again we have found ourselves looking at one another laughing hysterically, with no real reason. The other day she was playing in her exersaucer and I was just sitting here watching her, as I sometimes do. She wasn't paying me any attention, she was just playing with her toys, and all of a sudden she looked up at me...noticing that I was watching her and for some reason that was funny to her so she starting laughing. I got tickled and ended up laughing so hard I was in tears, which caused Angel to just laugh harder. We probably laughed for 10 minutes straight and didn't even know why we were laughing. Children are such a blessing...God definitely blessed me with the best!

Well I better start getting things ready for our trip to KS..we leave in two days!!!!

Stay A Baby A While Longer!

Well it seems that Angel is determined to grow up faster than I want her to. Even with my little pep talks of "Angel can't you stay mommy's little baby forever!" she continues to think she needs to be a BIG GIRL! It's interesting and amazing to watch her each day as she grows and challenges herself to learn new things.

Today she decided to set her all time record for walking. That's right she thinks she needs to learn to walk at just 7 1/2 months old. She has been able to take a few steps since she was about 6 months old, but only with a little nudging from daddy. Now she is off and going! She holds your hands and takes off in big strides, well as big as she can with her short little legs. I tell you there is nothing cuter than someone as short as her walking...it's adorable. Anyway, because she is so short I have to lean over to hold her hands and my back can only handle so many trips around the living room before I give out. We would walk around the entire living room and when we got to daddy's chair she would grab on to it and look up at me with a huge grin on her face..she had just done something big and knew it! We went around 4 times and mommy decided she needed a break. Angel wasn't done yet and was a little irritated with mommy for making her stop, she was on a roll. It looks as though we will be skipping the crawling stage and going from scooting to walking, no need to take our time here ;-)

I will continue to plead with her to stay a baby a while longer, but I think I've already lost the battle on this one! Well 1 week and counting till we are in KS to visit family and friends...CAN'T WAIT!!

Hard to believe but true!

This is a story that most of you probably won't believe, but it's the truth! It really did happen! Angel and I were spending the day Wed doing our normal stuff while daddy was at work. He works 24 hours at a time, so we have to learn how to manage while he's gone. Well Wed was a true test for me. First of all I got ready to put Angel to bed. When I walked into her room to get her ready for bed...you know change diaper, clean up, put pj's on, say bed-time prayers...well we got as far as turning on the light and I saw a dead mouse in the middle of the floor. For those of you that don't know...I think mice are the nastiest creatures alive, well this one was dead, but still the nastiest creature. I have never in my life picked up a mouse and disposed of it, always had someone else to do it for me. So I called Jon and told him he had to come home there was an emergency!! Ok so he did exactly what you are doing...he laughed at me. So I took some Kleenexes...that's right plural, more than one...picked it up by the very tip of it's tail and took it out to dispose of it. Then I got Angel ready for bed and did all the things that we normally do and went on about my business. About an hour later I got ready to head to bed myself. As if it wasn't enough that I had to dispose of a dead mouse...when I walked into my hallway, there was a SNAKE going under the door into Angel's room!! Yeah you heard it right a snake, ALIVE!! So I called Jon once again and said you have to come home there is an emergency!! He laughed again and said yeah right you are kidding. And I expressed that the two creatures I hate most are mice and snakes...no matter if they are dead or alive, but especially if they are alive. Finally after he realized I was not kidding, we figured out how I could go about killing a snake...Me kill a snake, I never even picked up a dead mouse before and this particular night I had to not only pick up a dead mouse, but kill a snake too. I was ready to pick Angel up and move out! While I chased the snake around the room, they are fast creatures, Angel sat in her bed laughing at me. Although I love to hear my little girl laugh, I could think of a lot of other things I would much rather do to make her laugh. Long story short, I disposed of a dead mouse and a dead snake and swore that if any other creatures entered my house that night I was packing up and moving out! Hope your sides are too sore from laughing at my expense. Now for some less entertaining and more informative news!

We are Praising The Lord for his goodness! We have answers to our prayers. Angel is feeling much better. She is back to her normal self finally! She has regained her appetite and is back to playing instead of sleeping all the time. It does a mom's heart good to see her little one enjoying life!

The other praise is that I got some good news at the doctor's yesterday. I went to find out the results of my tests for Celiac Disease. Praise the Lord...I do NOT have Celiac Disease. And even better than that, I do NOT have to go on the very expensive gluten-free diet that they had previously told me I would have to go on. There is medication they can give me to help with the gluten intolerance that I have. What a miracle!!

Please continue to pray for the family that lost their baby as they are dealing with the grieving process. And continue to pray for Jon's cousin as he is making great progress, but has a long ways to go.

Lots of Prayer!!

I want to thank everyone for their prayers this week! Angel is feeling somewhat better. She decided yesterday that she would rather be held then play on her own and has continued the behavior today as well. She is still sleeping a lot, but is eating better. Hopefully this means we are on the tail end of the sickness and she will be back to her normal self soon...just in time to leave for KS!

Please continue to pray for me as I am still trying to find out all the health issues I have to deal with. I will be returning to the doctor tomorrow to get my lab work report from last week's visit. I just pray that they have some sort of news that will lead us in the right direction. It gets discouraging going to doctor after doctor! It's been my life for the past few years and I just pray that we are finally getting somewhere. Although the reports are not all that good lately, at least we are finding out what it is that we are dealing with. Sometimes it's just better to know the bad stuff then to know absolutely nothing.

We continue to pray for Jon's cousin as he is healing from his head injury! He is making great progress, but has many obstacles that he will have to overcome in the weeks, months, and even years to come. We know that little Hinton and his family need prayer for strength as they are struggling through this trying time.

We also ask that you pray for a friend of ours that lost her grandbaby last week. The baby was born on Tuesday and past away on Thursday. How devastating to carry a baby to full-term, deliver a presumably healthy baby, only to have him pass away a couple days later. Please pray for this family!

Lots of prayer requests coming from the Barnes household this week. Please just keep on praying, that's what we need! I know I'm asking for a lot, but I also know I have lots of family and friends that are willing to join with me in lifting up these requests. I also look forward to the time when I can share the praise of answers to the prayers!!

Paranoid Mom!

One thing I am good at is worrying! You can ask anyone that knows me, I'm always worrying about something. Since I became a mother, my worrying has become a million times worse. God has given Jonathan and I a great responsibility, to raise Angel, to keep her safe, to protect her, and most of all to teach her how to live a life for Christ! What an amazing responsibility we have!

This week has been filled with worry! Angel started out the week with a rash on her bottom, presumed to be part of a viral thing. By Wed it had turned into something that needed a doctor's attention. Come to find out it was an infection, not just the viral stuff we were under the impression it was. Friday we were back at the doctor's office due to the onset of a fever. They were not able to find anything that would be causing a fever and are sticking to it being the end of the viral mess she previously had. Having to try to figure out what's wrong is difficult with a baby cause they can't tell you what is hurting. The doctor said that if the fever was not gone by Monday to bring her back. So far it is looking like we are going to be back at the doctor again Monday. Please be praying for little Angel as she is trying to get over whatever it is she has going on.

Blessed, Bible Study, School

I am so blessed! God has given Jonathan and I so much! Of course our biggest blessing is little Angel...she is so wonderful. I enjoy every minute I have with her. She is such a good baby, nobody could ask for better! As a matter of fact, while I sit here typing this she has been playing in her playpen and has started to get sleepy. Instead of fussing, she just got her passy, put it in her mouth, and laid down with her little teddy bear blanky (we're in trouble if we ever lose that blanky). It's amazing how much a little baby can teach you about God. I've learned not to take the simple things for granted.

Tonight was the last of a 4 week Bible Study for women at our church. It was a Beth Moore study called "Loving Well"! What an awesome message! I learned a lot and really enjoyed fellowship with other Christian women, something I don't get to do often. I'm a little sad that it's over. Hopefully there will be more to come in the near future. It was nice too because it gave Jonathan and Angel some Daddy/Daughter time, which they have really enjoyed!

This week will be busy. I will be starting my next quarter of school. I am going to be taking a Commercial Law class, which should be interesting and very time consuming. I will definitely need some prayer as I go through this quarter.

Keeping Busy!

Sorry for the lack of posts! I really have gotten behind on keeping everyone updated. Since my last post we have been trying to get well. All three of us have been sick with some viral mess, which just had to run it's course. We are finally starting to get over it completely...I think! I thought we were over it and then it seemed to come back stronger than the first time. Hopefully it's gone for good this time though. Angel is still struggling with some congestion, but I'm starting to think that might be partly allergies (taking after her daddy).

We were suppose to go to the mountains this past week for Jonathan's grandmother's 90th birthday, but due to being sick we decided that wasn't a good idea. So we ended up staying home. We stayed busy here, working on the photography business.

We are still struggling through my new diet. We spent two hours walking through the grocery store reading labels the other night, with much discouragement. We found that there isn't a lot of stuff I am able to eat. It's going to be a huge challenge, but we will manage.

We had an unfortunate thing happen at our house this week as well. One of our birds passed away. We are unsure why she died...it's hard to tell with a bird cause they don't act sick until they are ready to die. We are all a little depressed about the death of the bird. The other parrot we have hasn't said a word since she died, it's the grieving process I guess.

On a good note, Jonathan celebrated his birthday on the 24th. We actually celebrated with his family on Sunday, Sept 23. We had a good time. His sister Hannah had a soccer game, then we went out to eat, and then back to his parent's house to visit for a while. It's always nice spending time with family. We are looking forward to spending two weeks with my side of the family here in a few more weeks. We always look forward to our trips to KS, they are few and far between...which makes them even more special to us. This one will be very special cause it will be the first time everyone gets to see Angel since right after she was born.

Anniversary and Business!

It's been a busy week here at the Barnes' residence! I won't bore you with all the details of the week, just some highlights. The best part of the whole week was finally getting to celebrate our anniversary! We let Angel and Daisy spend the night with Jon's parents so we could have a night to ourselves. We had a great time! Although, we found that our conversation always seemed to come back to Angel! We just couldn't come up with anything better to talk about ;-)

We are still struggling with learning my new diet. It's not an easy task. Gluten is hidden in everything seems like. Every time we fix a meal and think we've gotten it gluten free, something ends up having gluten in it. It's a struggle, but we are going to get there at some point...if I can give up the things I like.

We are still working on the photography business and trying to get it up and going! We've really been enjoying working on that, as it is our passion! When you get a chance check out our website at http://www.blazingwingsphotography.bravehost.com/ and our portfolio at http://www.blazingwingsphotography.photoreflect.com/. We are still in the process of updating everything to get it just the way we want it, but you are welcome to check it out and let us know what you think. The scripture we are basing our business on is Daniel 3, when you get a chance take a few minutes to read it! Our goal is to bring glory to God through every part of our lives, including our business! We will be back in KS in October to visit and are going to be available to do some shoots if anyone is interested, please contact me so we can get it set up!

I'm also starting to do some graphic design work, which I am really enjoying as well. I love using my skills/talents for the glory of God, which is what I'm attempting to do! I will have to write more about this at a later time, Angel is needing my attention right now.

Praise and Prayer Request!

Praise the Lord Jonathan's cousin is making amazing progress everyday! A true example of a miracle from God!! As most of you know he has an 11 month old cousin (Hinton) that was involved in a devastating incident on August 29th. This little boy was taken to the hospital having a seizure after suffering major head injury from being thrown by his babysitter. He still has a long way to go, but his progress is amazing and a huge testimony for Christ! I want to thank all of you for your prayers for the family, they are much appreciated!

As for our family, Angel is doing good. I was afraid she was coming down with something when all she did Thursday was fuss, but I am now convinced that it was from her shots on Wed. Aunt Hannah was suppose to babysit Angel Friday night so that Jonathan and I could go out to celebrate our 5th Anniversary. However, since she was so fussy on Thursday we decided that it might not be a good idea to leave her incase she was coming down with something. We are planning to celebrate our anniversary next weekend instead. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and we will get to take advantage of going out on our date...just the two of us! We haven't had a date night since right after Angel was born and we were in KS, Granny and Papa made us go out for a couple hours so they could keep Angel and have a chance to spoil her without us around ;-) Momma has a hard time leaving her little baby girl, especially now after what happened to Jon's little cousin. But I am looking forward to spending some time alone with Jonathan, without the interruption of the little one! Jonathan says we can stay out as late as we want cause Hannah is going to spend the night...we'll see just how long us old fogies can last lol

One other thing I wanted to share, I found out from the doctor that I am gluten intolerant. This is not good news! From what I've found out so far, this is going to be a struggle. I am going to have to be on a very strict diet, which is going to be very difficult. Gluten is in everything. Jon tried to fix me a gluten free meal last night and after he finished working really hard to make sure he didn't use any gluten, he looked at something he used and there was gluten in it. He got an A+ for his effort though! I just ask that you keep me in your prayers as we learn to live with this new obstacle. And we pray that Angel doesn't inherit this as it will make things more difficult for her as she grows up as well.

Hurting and Frustrated!

Angel had her 6 month doctor's visit yesterday! And we all know that this means SHOTS!! She did very well as usual with getting the shots, and she is growing like a weed! The doctor was very impressed with her abilities and advancement for only being 6 months old. So we got a very good report and are continuing to try to get rid of the thrush.

Today Angel is not in such a good mood. She is obviously not feeling well. Being that she is a child that never cries, I knew something was wrong when she wouldn't stop crying at lunch time. She ate a few bites and then went to crying the worst cry she has ever cried. I gave her some medicine to help with the pain from the shots she had yesterday, as well as the teething pain. I finally got her to stop crying by laying her down for a nap. Poor little girl is not feeling well! Hopefully it's just from the shots and teething and there isn't something else going on. I guess time will tell!

Today we had to return the Aspen to the rental place and get our van back. Kind of a disappointment, we really liked the Aspen! Of course who wouldn't rather drive a 2008 Crystler Aspen over a 1999 Dodge minivan!?!

Vacation!!

Well we are back from a week long vacation in the mountains of North Carolina. I thought we would be able to get online while we were gone, but unfortunately we were not able to. We had a wonderful time as a family...Hated to come back to reality! Angel loves the mountains, unlike the beach...Momma's Girl!!

Let's see if I can get caught up on all the happenings around here. Sunday before we left for vacation Angel's bottom two teeth started popping through the gums finally! She's only been trying to cut them for 3 months now! While on vacation she perfected her scooting around the floor, to almost crawling. She also learned that if she wants to get somewhere fast, the trick is to roll instead of crawl. We noticed that she really can crawl and fast, when there is something she wants that she's not suppose to have...like the dogs rawhide! I guess she figures the rawhide is good for teething. Angel has really enjoyed exploring new things this week, such as new foods. She found that she loves cole slaw, bread of any kind, and her most favorite is cheesecake! This child doesn't do baby food, she only wants what mom and dad are eating. Problem here is that all dad is a meat and potatoes man...good thing mom likes a variety of foods. As a matter of fact, mom found a couple new foods she likes this week. While searching high and low for some okra to fry, we were only able to find some pickled okra...sounds disgusting to me, but it is actually very good. And at the fresh produce market we found the pickled okra, they talked me into trying some peach salsa...it's delicious too!

Along with spending the week watching Angel learn new things, find new foods to enjoy, and resting; we spent some time visiting family. We met up with some family at a place called "Shatley Springs" for lunch...AWESOME FOOD! We had Jon's aunt make us some shirts, mouse pads, coasters, and baby onsies for the photography business. Although we didn't do a lot while on vacation, we did have a great time and got lots of much needed rest! And most of all we enjoyed spending time as a family! We are looking forward to our next week long visit in just two weeks, gotta go back for Jon's grandmother's birthday! And then we will be taking a two week trip to KS in October, which we are really looking forward to!!

What A Week!

My apologies for not posting everyday this week! It has been a rough week around our house this week. The week started out with Angel being sick. Come to find out she has thrush, and a cold to top it off! We've had a lot of stuff going on at church this week as well.

While I was at a meeting Tuesday night, Jonathan and Angel went riding around "looking for deer"! Well they found one...and Jonathan decided he would hit it with our van. To top it off, at some point he lost his cell phone. Thank God, nobody was hurt and he was still able to drive the van. I think I'll be taking the keys to the van away from Jon, this is the 4th deer he has hit with it!! We just laughed about it, cause what else can you do!! So now our van is in the shop getting fixed and we are driving in style...we have a rental 2008 Chrysler Aspen! Next week we are going on vacation and will be riding in style, since the van will not be finished!

Wed night was yet another adventure for Jonathan! I had a prayer meeting at church and Jonathan kept Angel home with him. After Angel spent an entire hour crying and fussing, he decided that he no longer wants to be a stay-at-home dad like he once wished he could. I think dad's really learn to appreciate all mom's do when they are given the opportunity to experience it themselves. Jonathan said "I thought she would sleep so I could get things done"! I just laughed and said "oh just when you have something you need to get done, is when they decide they don't want to sleep and they want all your attention"! Angel wouldn't let her daddy put her down. She wasn't feeling well and just wanted to be held. I told him, that's why mommy's have to learn to do things while they are holding the baby. He says that's not possible for him! Pretty funny! Needless to say, when I got home he was ready for me to take over again!

Vacation next week!! I can't wait! We are going to the mountains for a week. I love the mountains, they are so peaceful! I will still be posting while we are gone and will be getting my e-mail, so don't think I'm going to be out of touch. I'm going to get back on schedule with my posting too!

Personality Developing!

Angel continues to surprise and amaze me everyday! She is really starting to develop her individuality/personality more and more as time goes. I have really enjoyed watching her change and grow! She is constantly thinking up new ways to make you laugh. Her newest thing is to make different sounds and then start giggling. Today she started doing this thing that sounds like a "sneeze/laugh"...she squints her eyes, bites her gums together tight, crinkles her nose, and makes this noise and then starts laughing.

Some of Angel's favorite things to do are; play peek-a-boo, roll over and over, play music on her exersaucer toys and laugh at mommy dance, talk to the picture of her and Daisy on my computer screen, try to call Daisy (comes out as "aaaaaaay", with a high-pitched squeel on the y), and of course she loves playing with her daddy! My absolute favorite is when she gives kisses, which she loves to do. She grabs your cheeks and pulls her face and yours together with her mouth open wide. She also likes to tease, grabbing your cheeks like she's going to give you a kiss and then she laughs and turns her head the other way.

As you can see Angel has quite a personality developing! She is so much FUN!! I can't wait to see how the following days unfold in her life, it's so exciting to watch her as she grows.

Reason For Celebration!

Angel was playing on the floor with her toys today. In an attempt to help her learn how to crawl better, I placed the toys just out of her reach. She was doing very well trying to get to them and just about had it figured out, when instead of grabbing the toys and pulling them to her, she started pushing them further away. This caused her to become frustrated, start fussing, and give up; expecting me to just hand them to her. Being the "wonderful" mother that I am ;-) I felt that my little 5 1/2 month old child needed to learn a lesson! Instead of doing what "she thought" was best and handing her the toys, I encouraged her to continue to try to get them herself (mommy knows best...right?). It was amazing to watch as I gave her encouragement, she tried harder, and eventually she reached the toys all on her own! This gave us a reason to celebrate "what a big girl she is"!

My thoughts then turned to my own life. How many times have I done this same thing? So many times I have gotten frustrated and just given up, even fussing! I say, "why won't this work, why doesn't anything ever work out for me, why can't this just be easy, why won't God just give me what I want"? I think you can see where I'm going with this. God knows best...RIGHT? Sometimes the best thing for us is, for Him to place what we want just out of our reach and teach us a lesson along the way! Encouraging us to grow, making us work harder, and giving us a reason to celebrate when we reach the goal!

I would encourage you each to ask God what it is that He is wanting to teach you. Then when you learn the lesson He is trying to teach you...CELEBRATE!! If you would like to share what God is teaching you, I would love to pray for you and celebrate with you!

Count Your Blessings!

Today, my thoughts have been revolving around my many blessings! Well they didn't start out that way. I started out thinking about all I have to do, how I'm not feeling well, and basically saying "poor, poor pitiful me"! As a lot of you already know, I have been struggling with my health for quite some time now. And at times it gets very discouraging. Yesterday, was yet another discouraging day!

The doctor's have found yet another obstacle, which I'm going to have to deal with. Not exactly sure of all the details yet, just had some tests that came back with some negative results. I am now in the waiting process until I can get in to see the doctor next month. After spending some time praying about this last night, God has been revealing some things to me.

I wanted to share what God has taught me through this "trying" time. The lesson I'm learning is to "Count My MANY Blessings!" Although I have many health issues to deal with, at least the doctors are finding them and I can deal with them instead of wondering what's wrong. There are so many people that have health issues and the doctors can't find anything or don't find it in time, therefore are unable to help them. I have a wonderful, supportive, loving family! I could go on and on about all the blessings God has given me, but there are too many to name them all! We need to stop saying "poor me!" and start saying "I'm so blessed, look what God has done for me!" My challenge to everyone reading this, "Count Your Blessings!" Have a VERY BLESSED Day!

Puppy Love!

Angel and Daisy are becoming best of friends! They are so cute together! The puppy makes sure that Angel is ok every time she makes a slight fuss. They like to entertain each other. Daisy usually ends up getting the raw end of the deal, being put in a head lock or something of that sort. Although, Daisy doesn't seem to mind being pushed around by "the bully"!

On occasion Angel will give Daisy the satisfaction of "thinking" she has won the battle. The wrestling match goes something like this; Daisy has Angel pinned with her front paws on Angel's chest, Angel grunts like she can't move (pretending of course), Angel grabs Daisy by the ears and wrestles her to the floor...1, 2, 3, 4, 5...Angel remains the champion!! And all the while Daisy just puts up with it!

Back To Old Self!

The past two days have proven to be glorious! As I told you all Angel was becoming a mommy’s girl, always wanting to be held and fussing anytime I was doing something other than soothing her. After looking back at the past couple weeks, I realized that we had an illness running through our family which the only symptom is an upset stomach. Unfortunately a baby has no way of telling you that something is wrong. This “stage” which we now recognize as her not feeling well, has come to a close. She has been back to her old self yesterday and today.

Today was a first for little Angel. She went to the nursery at Church for the first time. We have been just keeping her in the service with us, which worked fine until now. For some reason Angel thinks that she should be the one preaching the sermon! She likes to talk and GIGGLE!! She has a very cute high pitched giggle, but it’s not so cute in the middle of the Sunday morning sermon. It was nice to be able to take her to the nursery, giving Jonathan and I a break and allowing us to enjoy the message without interruption. Angel seemed to have a good time with the other little ones her age, ALL BOYS!! I was a little worried that she would be fussy once I left, but they say she did really well and wasn’t a bit fussy. I think being surrounded by the little men folk helped out with that situation!

Great Mornings!

Well I'm doing good at posting so far, 3 days in a row!! Thought I would share what a great morning I had. Like most mornings, I woke up to the sweet sound of little Angel cooing and giggling in her crib. She wakes up about 9am and rolls herself over to play. I listened to her and watched her on the monitor for about 30 minutes this morning entertaining herself. I finally decided to get up and get her a bottle. I put her in bed with Jonathan, Daisy (the puppy), and myself...good thing we have a king size bed! Daisy sleeps in our bed at night, curled up under the covers against my back. When I bring Angel in Daisy welcomes her with all sorts of kisses, then she curls back up in her spot and goes back to sleep. Not sure how Daisy sleeps through Angel kicking her, but somehow she manages. Once Angel finishes her bottle, we play for a little while and doze for a few more minutes if possible. Then it's time to get up for the day! What a joy and blessing it is to have such a wonderful baby girl! I thank God daily for allowing me the opportunity to raise Angel and I pray that I will be able to train her to be a Godly woman, always relying completely on Him!

Frustrated and Flattered!

It's amazing how you can feel more than one emotion at the same time. I have found this to be true more so as a mom than ever before. The past couple weeks have been interesting around our house. Angel has been wanting to be held by mommy all the time! Although this is flattering, it can be frustrating when you are trying to get things done. It seems that just the time I start a task, the fussing begins, and only mom's arms will make it stop.

Dealing with Angel's new found fussing has been a challenge. She has never been a fussy baby and still only fusses a minimal amount. I have found myself getting frustrated at times with the fussing because there are so many things I need to be getting done, and the only thing that stops the fussing is for me to hold her. While praying my way through the frustration, God has shown me that there is nothing that is as important as comforting my upset child and the other stuff can wait. I have also come to the conclusion that, I only have one opportunity to enjoy my baby as a baby. She is growing up so fast! Before I know it she will not want mommy to hold her anymore, as she will think she is too big for that. So my goal is to learn to be more flattered and less frustrated!

New Blogger

I am new to the whole blogging thing! Thought I would try it out and see if I can keep everyone updated on what's going on here in Virginia. I will try to post at least once a week and hopefully more than that. My goal is to share all the new things Angel is doing and keep you all updated on what our family is currently up to. I will probably share some of my personal thoughts and feelings along the way, as well as what God is doing in my life. I hope you will add my blog to your favorites and check back often to read about our family. And feel free to comment or share any advise/wisdom you might have along the way.