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!