Cru's Blessing

Alright, I guess I should probably update this thing. I feel like I have all of these things I need to blog about, but I am not going to lie, blogging is not my favorite thing. Mostly because it takes me forever... but I try to hit the main points of interest that go on here in the Barker Family, so that is what I'm going to do.

Since my last blog post we have had a couple things go on. The main event being Cru's baby blessing. We blessed him on September 30th (yes I know that was a month ago!) It was so great! Nick gave Cru a very sweet blessing, and afterwards we had everyone over for lunch. We loved having our families over to our new house and for most of them it was their first time being here. So that was fun to be able to show off our new house and actually have a place that everyone can be in at once and not feel cramped. We feel very blessed to have such wonderful families .

Cru, slept basically the entire time. How awesome is that Tux? I love it!

Sophie was too busy playing and already had taken her dress off by the time we were taking pictures so we never got one with her in it. oops!

Bryson, Mandy, Michelle, and Brady eating lunch

This is my niece Ayla, isn't she such a doll!?

Sophie

Also Cru turned 2 months this month (and yes, he is actually going to be 3 month old next week, like I said, I am a bad blogger) So here are his 2 month stats: Weight: 11 lbs 7 oz. height: 22.25 inches  head circumf.:38.1 cm. So as far as the charts go he is in the 10th percentile for height and head circumference and the 75th for weight. Ha. Basically we have a short chubby little guy. :) and he is the CUTEST!! He has started smiling and it is so cute and he is doing little baby talking sounds a lot more. I love it! Cru is such a good little baby, and we just love having him as part of our family. Sophie has gotten better about being "soft" with him and she really loves to hold him and talk to him.

We also carved pumpkins this week for Family home evening. Jono and Natasha (Nick's brother and his wife) and their two kids did it with us. It was pretty fun, although I think Sophie was pretty ready for bed by the time we got done because she was a grump the lat like 30 min they were here, but other than that it was pretty fun and we are all pretty proud of our awesome pumpkin carving skills. ;)

Mandy is supposed to be pulling the same face as the pumpkin but you cant really tell. 

~Happy Birthday Sophie!~

On August 11th Sophie turned 2! (I know, I know, that was a month ago, I'm a slow blogger.) I cant believe that she is 2 already, Crazy!! Her birthday this year was pretty lame because it happened to be the same week we just moved into our new house (more details in my next post) and with that and the new baby I really didnt plan a party for her, and I still feel bad about it. Next year I guess, right?! We did have a little cake and ice cream at a park for her with my family in Pocatello and then a couple days later we had cake and ice cream with Nicks family in Twin Falls. She definitely got spoiled with gifts from everyone though!

Well since it was her birthday , and I havent really done a post for her in quite awhile, this one is for her. So 20 things about Sophie... here we go:



1. She already has a great sense of humor and she is a goof ball, she loves to do random little things that she thinks are funny, and most of the time they are. At least I think so. ha
2. She is smart. She can talk super well and talks all of the time. She also knows how to count to 10 and sing her ABC's.
3. She is a total mama's girl, but she really loves her Daddy too. She's my little buddy. She wants to do everything I do and wants me to "watch" her do everything!

baking muffins in our new kitchen... this has become one of Sophie's

favorite activites

4. Her favorite movies are Tangled, and Finding Nemo. We watch them like everyday, well I should say we start them every day, we dont usually watch the whole movie.
5. She is a great helper. She loves to help me with things around the house. Her favorite things are unloading the dishwasher (she hands me the utensils one by one, it takes forever actually but she loves it), and she also likes to help me put the clothes from the washer to the dryer (also one by one).
6. Sophie is a great "big" sister and loves her little brother Cru.

7. She loves loves loves to DANCE! I wish I could put her in dance classes now because even though she is only just barely 2, I think she would do awesome. She dances all the time and makes up her own dances. Its so cute.
8. She loves animals any and all, she really loves dogs and cats though,  and I think we need to get some kind of pet... an outdoor pet... but Nick isn't too fond of the idea.

this isnt a real dog but you get the idea



9. She loves to be around people especially other little kids. She really loves to play with all of her cousins.
10. Sophie loves sweets/ treats. I try not to let her eat them very often but if she could, I bet that is all she would eat. Although I think thats pretty typical for most kids.
11. She really likes to sing. Lately she has become very good at Happy Birthday, probably because of all the August/ September birthdays we have. Her other favorite songs are "I am a Child of God" and the "ABCs" .
12. She is kind of shy, especially if she is just meeting someone for the first time.
13. She has an attitude, and can be a little stinker, but for the most part she is very sweet.
14. She likes to shop, and when she sees somthing she likes she always picks it up and says "cuuuute!!" Its hilarious!
15. Her new favorite game is hide and seek, she likes to seek.
16.She now weighes 23 lbs. still pretty small for a 2 year old.
17. She loves getting presents (who doesnt) sometimes Nick will bring her a little "present" home from work, like a fruit snack or squeez-it. She loves that.



18. She loves to go in Grandpa Scott's boat! and If she is being brave she will even go on the water weenie.

19. She loves her blankie and paci... they are the two things she will not share with anyone.
20. She is pretty much the cutest 2 year old girl ever... well thats what I think ;) We love her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIE!

#2 Little Cru...

So, like I have said before, we have had a very busy summer and of all the very fun and exciting things that have happened this summer our favorite part would have to be this. On August 2, 2012 little Cru Nicholas Barker was born!! He was 6 lbs. 3 oz. and 20 inches long. So compared to little Sophie (who was only 5 lbs 4 oz and 18 inches long)  he was big. ;)  He is pretty much the cutest little guy EVER, and he is such a good little baby. Especially since the poor little guy has been all over the place since he was born. (more about that in my next post)

 He loves loves loves to be held, and Sophie loves to hold him. Although I don't let her hold him as much as she would like I think. I have to watch her constantly, because if she is anywhere near him she just wants to hug him or kiss him or lay by him, and she is pretty good for the most part but She hasn't quite got the concept of being "soft" with him, although she really tries. Its pretty cute to see her with him and how much she just loves him! He is always the first thing she asks about when she wakes up in the morning. Its very cute!

We are so glad that he has finally joined our family, and we couldn't be happier. I am so thankful for him and for Sophie. I still have a very hard time believing that I have two kids now! Ok lets be honest I still cant believe I have one kid let alone two... But I absolutely LOVE being a mom! It really is the most rewarding thing in the whole world. They seriously bring Nick and Me so much happiness and they are just so cute and fun! Don't get me wrong I definitely have my moments where I feel super inadequate and... I dont even know what the word is... overwhelmed? Ya I think that's it.  I feel overwhelmed, but its worth it, and you know, I guess the fact that its hard sometimes (more than I would like to admit I'm sure) is what makes it that much better and I'm so grateful for it.

Here are some more pictures of the past couple weeks.

The Wedding!

We have had a very very busy summer and so I am going to be doing this in separate blog posts because otherwise I would have one gigantic blog post and who wants to read that, really!? I'm sure I would barely want to read it myself. So this way its not so overwhelming, mostly for me. I have been wanting to blog about everything we have done all summer for a long time but I keep putting it off, and honestly I am sure there are about a million other things, that are probably more important, that I could and should be doing instead but, I choose to do this right now. :)
So lets just go first things first here. On July 20th my favorite brother, Brandon, got married. (I'm just kidding Brady and Bry you guys know you two are really my favorite :)  They got married in the Logan, UT temple and it was really awesome to be able to go to the sealing there. I have never been to that temple before and it was so cool! It's a gorgeous temple! I'm so so happy for him and his sweet wife Michelle! They are so great together and we absolutely LOVE having Michelle as part of our family now.

So in my defense, I am 9 months pregnant in these pictures so don't judge me! ;)

After the wedding, we had a luncheon there in Logan at this cool, old restaurant called the Bluebird (i think) and it was really good! My parents were in charge of the Luncheon and were a little skeptical of this place because we didn't know a whole lot about it, but I think it turned out great! From there we headed to Grace, ID, where Michelle is from, for the reception. Everything turned out so great and it was beautiful! We were all super exhausted by the end of it but it was a great day!

Alright I'm kind of proud of this cake. Michelle was so kind and actually trusted 

me to make it for them. It was my first time ever making one by myself  and I think it turned out pretty good! We also had an open house for them at my parents house the next day, and, like everything else, it turned out great. Unfortunately though, I didn't get any pictures of it.  

All in all it was a very busy, exciting, couple of days and we couldn't be more happy for them. 

UPDaTE!

SOOOO Much has been going on these last couple of months and I have been meaning to get on here and update this thing but for some reason I just keep putting it off!
BUT.... Im doing now. :) So im just going to write about it all as it comes to me, not really in any particular order here.
1. We are moving to Twin Falls, ID for Nick's new job as a pharmacist at Ridleys. Although we arent moving until sometime in June. Nick still has to take pharmacy boards and he takes those in June. So until then he gets to work here in Pocatello. :)

2. We have decided to build a house instead of buying. This is because after much research we came to the conclusion that for the amount of space we were wanting and where we wanted to live that it would actually be cheaper to build than buy. Its still a mystery to me why that is, but I like it!. We bought a lot on the Jerome country club golf course (so technically we are going to be living in Jerome, but, for those of you who know that area we are on the twin side of the freeway right by the cool Canyon, Its a pretty cool spot!) However, building a house is a little more stressful than buying one. Not to mention we now have to wait for it to be built. And as of right now they havent even started on it yet. So we are hoping and praying they will be able to start within the next week or two

3. My brother Brady got home from his mission!! Its always so fun to have my brothers get home. This was the first time in about 4 years our whole family has been all together. It was so great to see Brady again and he got to meet Sophie for the first time! I didnt know how she was going to act. I thought she would probably act shy around him because she is very shy around people she has never met, but she really took to Brady quickly. I still dont think Brady knows what a big deal that is for her to do that. She was so happy to see him and was following him around all night. She still loves him and always wants to sit by him when he comes over. :)

At the Airport when he got home. Funny story... so apparently his flight was supposed to get there at 2:15pm but it was a little early and since he flew into SLC my parents and Brandon drove down there to pick him up while the rest of us waited in Pocatello. Well, for those of you who know my parents they arent known for being on time, this was the case here. Poor Brady's flight came about 20min early and nobody was there to greet him! HAHA He flew in with a couple other missionaries and he said they all had banners and a bunch of family and they all felt bad that nobody was there to greet him so they all congratulated him. But Brady said you could tell they were all just feeling bad for him! I thought it was hilarious!

This is Brady and Sophie meeting for the first time.

4. We found out we are having a baby boy!! We are super excited about it (especially Nick)! We, of course, would have been happy with either a boy or a girl, but we were both kind of hoping for a boy.

5. Nick graduated from Pharmacy school!! I am SOO proud of him! He has worked very hard for this and he did it!! Not that I ever thought he wouldnt, but there were times I know he wondered if he would ever be done with school! FINALLY he is!! ; )

Nick, Sophie, and Nick's parents after graduation

The Pharmacy banquet the night before graduation

6. My brother Brandon got engaged!! Her name is Michelle Burton and she is so great!! We love her, and she just fits right into our family! Im very excited to have her as a Sister-in Law!They are getting married July 20th. I wasnt too excited about the date because I will be HUGE considering im due like 3 weeks after that, and so I think I will just hide from the camera as much as possible. I tried to get them to reconsider on the date but for some reason me being fat wasnt that big of a deal to them. HA Weird right?

This is Brandon and Michelle! So cute huh!

Ok So I think that is all the big things that have gone on. We are feeling so blessed these days! Sophie is getting so big and is such a sweet little girl. She is still very clingy to me and im hoping that this will pass soon because I dont know how she will be once the new baby is here. I guess we will be finding out soon enough. For the most part, though, she is very very good and easy. She is talking really well these days and we always know exactly what she is thinking because she says everything she thinks. Nick has been trying the last few days to teach her how to count to five. She sometimes does really well and then sometimes its like she has no idea. Its funny and cute  watching him do it with her. Also, Nick made her a cute little toddler bed and she has started sleeping in it. She LOVES it! It was actually a lot easier to get her to sleep in it than I thought it would be, the only drawback is that now she can get out of it. So if she happens to wake up in the middle of the night (which she does often!) she ends up coming into our room crying and wanting me to come sleep with her in her bed. Kind of cute, but also kind of annyoing! More annoying, especially at 4am!

Sophie in her cute bed!

Sophie thinks its funny to hide in the coat closet and then jump out and "scare" us! Its pretty funny!

So I think that about sums everything up. We love life and are looking forward to all the new changes that are coming!