All Growed Up

HS Class of 2004

10 years later!

Can you believe that my 10 year high school reunion has come and gone? That is so crazy to me. Not only am I on the brink of 30, but I have officially been a high school graduate for ten years. Usually these two milestones bring up the lingering question, "What have I done with my life?" My "original" plans involved a lot more schooling and travel. My goal was to have my PhD and to be traveling the world by the time I was 30. I wanted to teach English overseas and, honestly, thought that stay-at-home moms led boring lives. God always has bigger and better plans for us, doesn't He? While my life is far from perfect, I find myself completely exhausted at the end of most days, and there are places I can't afford to travel to right now, I can say that I am currently employed in my favorite job!

I have learned to "never say never" because then it's like I'm just asking for it to happen! I said I would never even date a youth ministry major in college, let alone marry one. And I never thought I would want to stay home with my kids (at one point I wasn't even sure I would have any). Honestly, I wouldn't have my life any other way. I'm so glad that I have been open to God's direction in my life instead of trying to force what I thought I wanted. So, although what I REALLY want is to be six again when I had no worries, free shelter and food, and a scheduled nap time, I am learning to embrace each new challenge and blessing I am given on this journey.

Little Cowboy

To answer my "reunion question," I have done plenty with my life in ten years! I went to a great college where I met some of the best friends I will ever have. I graduated with two Bachelor's degrees and I haven't stopped learning since! I have had the opportunity to try out different jobs in the education field. Some great, some not so great. I will actually have my Master's degree completed before I'm 30 (if I can find time to work on my thesis with a toddler and a newborn!). I married a sexy man who loves God and loves his family, and we are about to have two beautiful baby boys that we get to call our own and are responsible for raising into strong young men. It's not without its stress worrying about finances and the perfect parenting practices, but it's my life and I love it. We all have our own personalized journeys and that's what makes this life so wonderful. My path and life decisions aren't for everyone, but I've found, to my surprise, that they are for me and I hope to keep following the direction God intends for me. Because that is where joy and peace lies, in the midst of both blessings and turmoil.

"A man's heart plans his way,

But the Lord directs his steps."

- Proverbs 16:9

Day 1 of fever :(

Did I go to my high school reunion? Unfortunately not. I'm so thankful for Facebook because I never would have kept up with anyone from high school if it weren't for everyone's updates and pictures! Instead, I was at home with a sick little boy. Bennett got a sudden fever that week and it was as high as 105 at times. No others symptoms but a runny nose and fussiness so it was weird. After two days of his fever not letting up, I took him to Urgent Care and they diagnosed him with an ear infection. I thought it was weird because he didn't tug on or complain about his ears at all. I was worried so I took his first ever prescription for an antibiotic and filled it! Less than two days later, his fever was finally subsiding, but he broke out in a horrible rash! So... we go to his pediatrician who says he does not, in fact, have an ear infection, but instead his symptoms are closer to Roseola virus. Super. Not sure where he got it, but it is hard to pinpoint when the kid licks everything from the bottoms of shoes to the floor and playground equipment...

Now this is love...

He is good now! Finally! He was a horribly mean sick child. He threw tantrums and wanted me to hold him 24/7. I don't mind babying him when he is sick because I know he doesn't feel well, but there were times I just wanted to smack him! I gave him Benadryl for the first time because he was scratching his rash, and I will not be doing that again anytime soon! The side effects warned about "excitability" in children... more like "demonic activity!" It was like a demon had possessed my sweet boy! He went from being sleepy and cuddly to just screaming and crying and throwing his body around for no reason! He was also hitting and kicking me whenever I would try to console him. I think I was more worried about his behavior than I had been about the high fever before. Luckily, praise Jesus, we are back to normal! He is still his naughty, adventurous self, but the tantrums are almost non-existent and he's back to playing normal, being sweet when he wants to be, eating non-stop, and the ill-induced meanness that had possessed him is gone! That was only the second time he's ever been really sick and I sure hope it is not a look into the future because if so, he is one mean sick kid! Ugh!

Baby Bro's Bear!

Speaking of growing up, I celebrated my 29th birthday last week! Oh, joy. One year closer to 30. I keep telling Jeff that I want to turn 30 in Hawaii. Ha! A girl can dream, can't she? We took a trip to the city and stayed the night. We built a bear for baby brother, just like we did for Bennett before he was born. Hopefully he will love it just as much as Bennett loves his bear! We ate at Musashi's with Jeff's family and some friends. It was delicious! I miss access to good food like that! The next day we checked out the science museum and the cowboy museum. They were both a lot of fun and I think Jeff had more fun playing with the exhibits than Bennett. :) Before heading home we ate at the first restaurant Jeff and I ate at together (before we started dating): Toby Keith's Bar & Grill. So good!

Happy 29th Birthday!

My sweet boy

 It's been a month full of ups and downs, but overall a good one and not over yet. Next up is the town's homecoming parade and game, then we are taking Bennett to a pumpkin patch! I can't wait to dress him up for Halloween next month! You will just have to wait and see what he will be! ;)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths."

- Proverbs 3:5-6

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." 

- Jeremiah 33:3

Is it Fall Yet?

Bring on the crockpot meals, scarves, and everything pumpkin, this family is ready for fall! Football season has started,  I made our first pot of tortilla soup for dinner last night, and even made a cup of hot chocolate.

We had our 20 week ultrasound where they do a bunch of measurements and make sure baby is growing on schedule. Baby boy is looking good! His organs were all in place and functioning and it looked like he had some long legs on screen! He's only weighing about a quarter of a pound right now so he has lots more fat to put on before he gets here! I know people say that babies on ultrasounds look like aliens, but this little darlin' looks so adorable already!

Still playing the name game, but I'm sure our handsome boy could wear any name well! I always tell Bennett that he stole all our good genes and didn't leave any for his siblings, but I have noticed that younger brothers tend to be the heartbreakers in the family, so the ladies better watch out! If this kiddo is any cuter than Bennett, then we are going to have some girl problems when the boys get in high school! Uh oh!

While we are on the subject of cuteness and all things adorable, Bennett just impresses me each day with his growth, vocabulary, and crazy shenanigans. I feel like the kid learns at least three new words everyday! My new favorites are when he brings some of his animals up to me one by one, names them, and makes their animal noise. Like his "hi-on, roar!" He knows the colors "blue" and "red," and loves playing with his "oars" and "moos" that Jeff handed down to him. This little cowboy moos and neighs all day long. He still loves playing with his dogs, now "Mah" and "Nook." He may like them a little too much because he seems to be copying them by licking everything! He has actually licked the walls and dropped down onto our tile and started licking the floor in front of guests! I don't know where this kid gets this stuff!

This big boy also moved to a toddler bed a couple weeks ago and has, surprisingly, done awesome with it! Nap time is usually the hardest to get him to go to sleep, but he does so well at staying in his bed! He loves reading his books so after reading him two or three, he usually just reads them over to his teddy and then falls asleep. He gets up sometimes, but it's usually to get more books. He still doesn't like keeping his pants or diaper on, so that is usually our biggest battle! Boys...

Jeff had a mud wrestling back-to-school bash for the youth group and it was a crazy mess! I just took pictures... but the kids (and even adults) seemed to love it. The newspaper even showed up to take pictures!

As for me, I'm growing as well! :) My belly still has some growing to do as baby boy grows. I feel huge already, but comparing it to pics of my pregnancy with Bennett, it's really not too much of a difference. I can definitely say that I am much more tired this time around (you can tell in my pictures). It was definitely easier to just be working full-time while pregnant than to be a stay-at-home mom with a toddler and pregnant! There's no sick days or sleep-in Saturdays anymore! Not to mention the fact that I now live in a town with ZERO of my food cravings! It's rough. No Olive Garden. No Panera Bread. No Chick-Fil-A. No Indian food. And no wing place! I may or may not dream about food on a regular basis...

I also started my second to last term in my Master's program along with my thesis! It's exciting to be almost done and to be working on a research project where I get to choose the topic, but, boy, is it a project! I'm hoping to get as much done as possible before January gets here, but that is easier said than done.

Looking forward to my birthday! We are spending a night in the city (a big deal!), going to eat at some yummy places (did I mention I'm food deprived??), taking Bennett to the science museum, and building little brother a bear like Bennett's! Also, so excited about all of the holidays, birthdays (including a new birthday!), and family time that is coming up! Seriously, my favorite time of the year! Come on, cooler weather!

My Boys and Summer Days

Our sweet baby boy

First, to get the big news out of the way - We are having another baby boy! Jeff and I couldn't be more excited! I'm sure Bennett would be excited too if he knew what was on its way. The boys will be exactly two years apart and I hope they will be best buddies! I think Jeff and I have it narrowed down to two names to choose from. They were both in the running with Bennett so it is kind of nice to be able to use one of them. I'm hoping to get that same feeling of "this is it" with this baby's name like I did with Bennett. As long as we make up our minds before January!

We originally weren't going to find out what we were having until my 20 week ultrasound. When Jeff got a call from the Air Force asking him to go to a six week training starting in August, I booked this elective ultrasound so that Jeff would be there to find out with me. When the Air Force failed to turn in Jeff's paper work on time and we found out that Jeff would not be able to go to this training and would have to wait until the next session next year (after we changed Jeff's birthday plans and everything), I was WAY too excited to cancel the ultrasound appointment and wait until 20 weeks. I barely slept the night before the ultrasound. I tend to get excited about surprises.

At the end of July we FINALLY took Bennett's 18 month pictures. He had that hand, foot, and mouth disease so I had to wait until the sores on his mouth went away. Then it rained for a week straight. Of course Bennett was not too excited about the whole picture taking thing and it sure was fun taking pictures of a toddler who doesn't want to cooperate! We managed to get some decent ones though. And, of course, Bennett is adorable no matter what face he's making. :)

We also realized recently that our Jeep Liberty is just not going to fit two carseats comfortably. The passenger seat is already scooted up way too far in order to accommodate Bennett's seat which has to be rear-facing until he is two. Anyway, we thought we found the perfect car in the city while Jeff was on orders in Enid for two weeks. We started all the financial paperwork and told the dealership that we were on our way to buy the thing. Well... two hours into Jeff's drive to go get it, they call and say that they sold the car! Boo! I call Jeff upset, it's raining, he's pissed, and he turns around to head back to his base. Shortly down the road, Jeff comes upon a bad accident. Being one of the first ones on the scene, he helped some other bystanders to pull two small children out of a smoking car. I am so thankful for Jeff's safety through all of that and that he was able to be of some comfort to some sweet little children. Those little ones lost both their mother and father in that wreck. They are just 2 and 4 years old and their parents were only 30 and 31. It breaks my heart for them, but also makes me cherish my family and how quickly things can change. Those parents were about the same age as Jeff and I and those kids are the same age difference as our boys will be. I love my family and I thank God for them everyday, but having Jeff be a part of an incident like that really opened our eyes to how truly blessed we are. It also reminded us that we are not guaranteed tomorrow and although I would give anything so that my children didn't have to live without their parents, it really got us looking into our life insurance policies and how we need to draft up a will. So drive safe, cherish your family, and be prepared for the worst (even if you are like me and want to believe that nothing bad will ever happen to your babies).

To move onto a much happier note and speaking of cherishing time with family, Jeff turned 30 last week and we had a blast celebrating it! Although our plans kept falling apart, I KNOW that even vacations can be "meant to be" and that things fell apart for a reason. For Christmas, I surprised Jeff with an Alaskan cruise to celebrate his 30th birthday! We actually canceled that because the cruise line said the ship couldn't reach certain speeds and they would be taking away some of our stops. They were going to give us $50 to spend on the ship to make up for it and they weren't going to repair the ship until 2015... No, thank you. I did not want to be stuck in the middle of the ocean if something more serious happened. Then... Jeff wanted to go back to the Dominican Republic, to the same resort we stayed at for our honeymoon. No biggie. Our families were going with us so we told them, Jeff's dad booked the Dominican right away and we looked for flights with our airline miles. That had its own issues because they weren't allowing people to book hotels with their miles because of fraudulent activity going on in the Dominican. Great... Then... Jeff got that call about training and he didn't want to go overseas and come back the day before leaving for South Carolina. So, we rented a house near Lake Texoma for the family instead. It turns out, as Tony found out the hard way, it was good that we didn't go to the Dominican because a hurricane came in last week and canceled everyone's trips there anyway! Never a dull moment for the Barros...

All that to say, we had such a great time on Lake Texoma. The house was awesome, our families were there, the fishing was good, and we had fun splashing in the lake (Bennett LOVED the water!).

So, that's been the end of our busy summer! On a side note, I'm starting my Master's Thesis THIS WEEK! AHH! I'm praying I can get it mostly completed before baby gets here! Oh! And Jeff got promoted to Captain! Go him! :)

Maybe I need to write more often because this turned out a lot longer than I intended...

Blessings and Exhaustion!

Where to begin? It has been a crazy, busy, wonderful, exhausting summer so far and I have too much to catch up on! I guess we can start with the most exciting news:
Baby #2 is on the way!

We found out way earlier than last time. I was barely four weeks when I got my first positive pregnancy test Mother's Day weekend! We were so excited that we told our families right away. Our little Bennett is such a miracle to begin with that we just couldn't keep the good news to ourselves. In fact, instead of waiting to tell the world at 12 weeks like I did last time, I broke at 9 weeks and shared with everyone on Father's Day! I just couldn't help myself. God has been so good to us!

I was actually so relieved to just get the news out there because I was getting tired of hiding my ridiculous bloat, nausea, and exhaustion. That was also the day before we left for Falls Creek, our church's youth camp, and it was good that everyone knew why I needed a nap in the middle of the day or why breakfast did not look appealing one morning. It was an exhausting, but great week. Everything went really smoothly. It was also my first week away from Bennett! He was at home with my mom and I actually did okay being so far from him. I'm sure it's because I knew he was in good hands. :)

We did have a "Redneck Dinner" one night at Falls Creek and Jeff and I dressed up. I can't seem to find any photographic evidence on my computer. Maybe that's a good thing...

The beginning of the summer also included teaching VBS (I had some pretty cool 5th graders), Jeff going to Super Summer with some of our youth, and Bennett and me helping out with Kids' Kamp. I didn't take many pictures, but this one of Bennett passed out pretty much sums it all up.

Bennett has also gone swimming, played at the splash pad, gone to a church picnic, and he even got to ride a little train so far this summer!

He loves the water!

First splash pad day!

Keeping cool

Loving our walks

Train ride with Daddy!

The Fourth of July was pretty laid back. Bennett actually got pretty sick and was running a high fever that week so he wasn't really in the mood for fun. It was probably only his second time ever being really sick, so I was a little worried. He's good now, of course, and was great at his 18 month check-up. He is 25 pounds and 32 inches tall! Growing up so fast! His vocabulary includes mama, dada, dog, hi, hey, nana (banana), hot, ball, no, and something that sounds like bird. That's all I can think of now, but he is also trying to make dog and monkey sounds. They sound pretty similar, but it cracks me up! He LOVES to be a helper and likes to help vacuum, unload the dishwasher, dust, and swat flies... such an adorable, little copy-cat.

Happy Fourth!

My big boy at his appt!

Pool fun on the 4th

Cranky baby family photo!

We also just got back from visiting family in Miami and Wyandotte! Always fun to visit grandparents and cousins! On our way back, we got to stop at cousin Amelie's 5th birthday party!

Bennett and Nana

 

What's up, Mom?

Princess Amelie!

Ku-Ku Bird!

I think that about covers our summer so far. I'm about 13 weeks along now and we find out if we are having another bouncing baby boy or a little girl next month! I really have no preference. I'm just so excited to find out! I had my 12 week appointment and saw the cutest ultrasound pictures of our little #2!

BB #2 @ 12 weeks

#2 is already so stinkin' adorable!

Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.

- Luke 1:45

Have a wonderful summer!

Ready for Summer!

Hold the phone. Are we are the verge of summer already? How did that happen?! Before we get into our crazy, busy summer, how about an overview of the last month?

April was fairly laid back. I've been really busy with my grad school courses (just one more final exam to go!), but other than that it has been church as usual and taking pics of my silly boy. Check them out!

Trying on Daddy's shoes

Our little climber

Bennett's current favorite word is, "Hi!" He says it ALL the time. When he's in trouble and I tell him No, he'll smile and say, "Hi!" He saw a bird flying over our yard this afternoon and he pointed up and yelled, "Hi!" He's just too stinkin' cute. I know I say that a lot, but it just keeps getting truer by the day. He loves his dogs and he loves books. The other day I caught him trying to read a book to Maggie in his playroom. Adorable. He also LOVES to be thrown around and hang upside. He's a wild man.

Easter Family Photo

Bennett's first watermelon. He was a fan.

This boy LOVED hunting eggs!

Easter was our only really "big event" in April. Bennett also got a good cold for the first time. Poor little booger. Then he gave it to me! So that was no fun. I had just barely recovered when Jeff and I took a little mini getaway to the city at the beginning of May! My mom came up to watch Bennett and it was my (and his) first overnight trip away from each other. It actually went better than I thought! Of course he was on my mind the whole time, but I was free to do whatever and sit at a restaurant without having to clean sticky fingers or shush a toddler (Jeff was well-behaved). Jeff and I definitely spent more money on food than we did on lodging those couple of days. There's not much to choose from here in Northwest Oklahoma, so we had to get our fix!

Botanical Gardens

Lunch at 50 stories up!

Then of course, there was Mother's Day! Jeff/Bennett got me flowers, a hand-printed (by Bennett) travel mug, and gift cards for a pedicure and massage at a spa! Can't wait to use those! Overall, it was a wonderful day.

Our summer is going to be jam-packed, but I'm finding that I'm actually excited for it to be here! I'm exhausted just thinking about it, but it is going to be a fun one! :)