Valentines Day

Clara 7 months

Abby 3 and a half!

Abby had her first school valentines party this year at DCP. She was so excited to be included with Jake and Tess in filling out valentines. Abby chose to give out Tinker-bell valentines with lollipops, she loves Tinker-bell these days. Tess was her writing assistant. 

This was Tess's first school valentines party as well, we missed Halloween thanks to the hurricane. Jake prepped her for all the exciting events of the day a week before the big day as they sat and signed their valentines together. Super cute! 

The morning of Tess forgot her lunch money so Abby, Clara and I walked over to the school and called her down to the office. It was so cute to watch Tess's curls bounce as she grinned from ear to ear when she saw us. Tess gave Abby a big hug and kiss to greet her. Abby excitedly told Tess that we were going to go to the store and that she would be getting a lunchable. Tess's response was so sweet. She matched Abby's excitement while telling her how great that would be and then gave her another hug and kiss before she went back to class. This little interaction did my mommy heart so much good! I will always remember how happy my sweet Tess made her younger, adoring sister Abby. It reminded me of how much I adored and loved the attention of my oldest sister Emily as a child.

I am so grateful to have Emily Tess as our first daughter!

At 1pm Clara, Abby and I headed over to the school for the parties. Tess was so happy to see us, Mrs. Paciotti told me later that Tess was getting a bit worried and anxious when we weren't there right at the beginning of the party. Tess and Benjamin included Abby and it made her day! They let her meet all their friends, help with the craft, and eat with them. 

After spending some time with Tess we headed over to Jake's class. Jake enjoyed introducing his baby sister to all the kids. His teacher had a lot of fun activities that took up the rest of the school day for him. I left with Tess early and then walked back to school to pick Jake up at the end of the day.

I am still trying to figure out what traditions I want to do for Valentines. For the past couple of years I've left messages and treats in the kids mailboxes every day leading up to Valentines day. This year on Valentines day we had heart shaped pancakes, I gave them each a little gift from Dan and I after school,  and made a red dinner with heart rolls. In my family we decorated sugar cookies to ding-dong-ditch and then coming home to a candy-gram from my parents. Maybe next year.

This was the 11th Valentines Day with Dan. Crazy how time flies when your having fun!

Clara's 6 Months

18lbs. 5.oz

* She Has A Big Open Mouth Smile

 * She Eats Baby Food (I started her on rice at 4 and a half months, she took right to it.)

* She Is My Worst Sleeper EVER! ("sleep-training" isn't working!) 

 * She Loves to Jump Jump Jump or Do the "Clara Shuffle" Rocking Back and Forth on her Feet

 * She Coo's and Makes Lots of Happy Sounds

Walking the older kids to school. Brrrr!

Just woke up from her nap.

Learning to sit up.

***We Love Our Sweet Baby Girl!

Year in Review

2012
·      Morning sickness and anticipation of baby #4.

·      A trip to Utah for Aunt Liz and Uncle Kent’s wedding. During the 3 week visit Dan had 2 business trips, Tess broke her leg, we all got sick, and Becky had premature labor and was put on "bed-rest" for a couple weeks.

·      Tess was amazingly patient and happy through 3 wks of wheel chair, 6 wks of a cast from foot to thigh, and another 6 weeks of limping to adjust to walking again. Her kind and happy nature never ceases to amaze us . She has a new accessory, glasses.

·      Tess finished kindergarten and I completed our first year of home school!

·      Dan lost his appendix.

·      Becky finished a 4-year process of 3 implants.

·      Clara Ann Barnhurst born June 28^th, another red head.

·      We survived a hot Summer with a colicky baby.

·      Abby started her first year at Damascus Community Preschool, Tess started her first year of public school with her cousin Benny in her class, and Jake started 2nd Grade.

·      Dan climbed Mount St Helens for the second time. Unlike 12 years ago this time it was at midnight, in the dark and fog, and he was out of shape. Not doing that again.

·      Dan put in many long hours of prep and business trip leading up to his debut in court as an expert witness on Halloween.

·      Jake loved riding his bike, learned to double knot his own shoes, got his first knife and BBgun , started cub scouts and was baptized!

·      Abby made us laugh every day. She is always talking or singing. She is a happy, spunky and precocious little 3 year old.

·      Clara is 6 months old. She is very high-maintenance and wants to be entertained or held all the time. Her open mouth smile melts our hearts.

·      Becky is still adjusting to caring for 4 children with the baby constantly attached to her hip. Dan stays incredibly busy with work, church, and entertaining his adoring children. ….and keeping his wife happy.

Aimee

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without out my sister! This is her 4th year coming to Maryland and the truth is Christmas is just that much better with her! We shopped, we ate A LOT, we played games, watched movies, enjoyed Christmas day together, went to Mt. Vernon, and downtown D.C.--all that in just one week.

I love that my kids and Dan adore Aimee. On Saturday Dan and Aimee went shopping and took all the kids, for hours.  So, while Clara slept I slept. Best present ever! Dan said the kids did great. When they started to fight Aimee waved her magic wand of distraction and made the grumpiness just go away. Amazing.

Sunday we finished making our cookies and went caroling to neighbors and friends. Aimee is the sugar cookie queen. With her help Tess and I made and decorated the best sugar cookies I've ever done! Yum. On the cookie plate we had gingerbread men (my mom made when she was here), buckeyes, gingersnaps and sugar cookies. It was fun to go out and sing as a family. I'm excited for when the kids are a bit older and we can do more than one song. I love Christmas songs!

Tess got a mini cupcake maker from Jake for Christmas. Dan helped Tess make them and Aimee sat and frosted them so Tess could decorate them.

Playing Clue

Clara loved Aunt Aimee from the moment she met her, which is saying something! From feeding her baby food to getting her to sleep--Aimee spent the week taking care of Clara for me!

Mt Vernon

 D.C. American History Museum

Now if only we could always have Aimee around!!!

Christmas Day

Tess ended up sleeping in our room because of a tummy ache in the middle of the night. She woke up at 6a.m. but thankfully stayed quiet until 7 when the other kids woke up. We had our traditional glass of juice before lining up to head downstairs. Tess was not a fan of the healthy prerequisite. I remember feeling the same way when I was her age!

Highlights:

--Tess really wants a REAL dog, but I love her excitement of the stuffed one Santa brought. And her camera.

--I loved that Tess wore her new t-shirt while holding her camera in one hand and her big dog in the other as she ran around the house chasing clues and string.  (Aimee found this shirt at The Children's Place and couldn't pass it up, it's a dog holding a camera, which are the two items Tess asked Santa for.)

--Abby played with her doll house all day, singing her make-believe songs as she went. She named her little doll house girl Lewis, of course.

--Jake was very concerned on Christmas Eve that we had enough yarn for everyone. Aimee took care of a very long yarn hunt for him leading to this gift. Jake's expression and excitement with his new electric helicopter from Aimee was AWESOME!

--Clara was completely taken with Aimee. It was so nice to have a break from constantly being the one she wanted to hold her.

--Aimee's Better Off Dead themed gifts preparing her for her trip this Summer to Thialand.
--Mom and Dad were way too good to us this year. We all got gifts from them and then to top it off they sent us a dehydrator! Perfect for our year food supply goals!

--We made our traditional big southern breakfast. Yum. Dan bought me a new griddle which was heavenly to use. After 10 years of trying to cook the white sauce/gravy on my own I think I finally mastered it. 

--We ate lots of treats and leftover mash-potatoes and meatballs!

--We stayed in our jammies all day, played with the new toys, watched our new family shows and jsut enjoyed each other.
--Dan took the kids out to play in the snow.

--Dan opened his last treasure hunt gift after 7pm.
--At bedtime Dan heard Abby singing a song about how much she missed her dad and wished he'd come back. As he walked into their room Abby exclaimed, SEE TESS, IT WORKED! Of course Dan went up a three times to give hugs and kisses again.
--The night ended with the adults drinking soda, eating Cheese Cake Factory cheese cake, and and watching Inception.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve it SNOWED! So we were in for a white Christmas. Dan took the kids out to play in the snow in between cooking and cleaning. We had the Warner family over for dinner, fondu, and the nativity. This year Dan made PioneerWoman's meatballs and mash potatoes. They are pretty time consuming but are the best meatballs we've had. We did chocolate fondu and dipped lots of fruit and marshmallows for dessert. I love our nativity costumes from China. Benny and Tess were Joseph and Mary, Lydia and Abby were shepherds with CC as the angel, and Bonnie, Jake and I were wise men. a Dan was the donkey and Aimee held Clara while taking the pictures. We started the festivities early so that by 8 the kids were in their new PJ's and headed to bed. Santa's helpers stayed up so very late.

Our friends, the Rogers, passed on 'the red ball' tradition they do each year. They wrap lots of little surprises into a ball and each person has to share what they like about someone else as they unwrap a layer.  The kids loved it.