Sea Turtles

UPDATE #2

As I mentioned earlier Christopher has been on vacation this last week.  Wednesday Christopher and I took Harper over to Jekyll to the Sea Turtle Center.  If you live in the Brunswick/Glynn County area I hightly recommend going if you havent been!  We had a blast!

The turtles were an amazing site.  The center had pictures of what the turtles ooked like when they were rescued and why they were rescued...and you could absolutely tell that the center has rehabilitated these sweet creatures.

I was a little unsure how Harper would react.  But he absolutely had a blast!  He watched the turtles intently. 

He also kept trying to climb over the railing and get down!  He wanted to swim with a turtle!  Harper and his daddy had a great time together and this next picture shows that in its entirety.

Besides having a few minutes (literally it only took us about 45 minutes or so to walk through) of great family bonding it was so incredible to see how far the turtles have come!



This little (or not so little) guy was iver 140 lbs!!!



Birthday Boy

I have absolutely been slacking with my blogging.  Not to mention Christopher has been on vacation the last week and we have had a lot going on. I am going to attempt to get this thing caught up...but it will take me a few posts to do so.

I will start with Harper's Birthday.  All of you know by now my baby isnt a baby anymore.  He is officially a toddler!  :(  It is the most exciting and sad thing ever for a mama!  Thursday night I cried becasue all I could think was "when I put him to bed and get him up in the morning he wont be a baby anymore...he will be a toddler"! 

Friday (10/21) his birthday, I was good...didnt shed one tear!


Saturday we decided to get his hair cut (it needed it bad)!  And I cried because in the end he looks like a big boy!!

I was also quite proud of my big boy, with the help of a sucker, he sat fairly still and never cried during his haircut!

Sunday we also had a 1st Birthday Party for him!  It wasnt anything big, but his mommy had a blast and will definitely remember it.  I regret to inform you that his mommy was also so tuckered out after the party that there will not be a party for a few years!  HA!  But he had a blast being the center of attention and here are some great pics from that day.  THANKS Serena for taking, editing, and sending them to us!

Funny thing was Harper did not want anything to do with his cake!  He would not touch it! 



Now, after the fact, Pops (Christopher's dad) gave him bites of cake off a fork and he loved it!

Guess the moral of the story is, Harper doesn't like to "dig in" and get dirty!  HA!

Not the best picture of us but it sums up the day!

Its still desperately hard for this mama to believe that her baby is a big boy now!  And it amazes me that day in and day out he is growing and learning.  Every day he shows me that he is soaking in his surroundings and learning something new!  I love you Harper Barnes!

First update in a long time!

It has been a while since I have even cared to look at this blog.  Life happened, I got busy, and eventually I stopped caring about it!  But here I am!

This week we are getting ready for Harper's first birthday!  I CANNOT believe that he is turning ONE!  Where has the year gone?  Just yesterday I took a home pregnancy test and found out I was preggo!  And Friday hes turning one!  God has truly blessed me beyond imagine with an amazing little boy!  The BEST little boy, I say!  He has a funny personality, he is sweet, and I love him to pieces. 

As I will be running around getting things together for his party this week im also trying to plan a halloween costume for him.  I wasnt really planning on doing anything for this but GiGi kindly told me a few days ago that he HAD to have a costume!  She bought him this styrofoam sword not to long ago and told me to plan around that.  So, I racked my brain for a few days...couldnt come up with anything so I asked Christopher.  Good ol' Christopher to the rescue!  First thing out of his mouth?  A pirate!  Great idea daddy!  So now I am planning a pirate costume.

I googled pirate costumes (thanks google!) and got my list together: black pants that need to be cut and frayed, a white shirt that need to be frayed, red vest, a hat, a sword (DONE), and an eye patch (done, found one at the dollar store for $1).  So, im going to look at the consignment store for black pants and a white shirt since im cutting them anyways!  But I am thinking im going to attempt to make a red pirate vest out of felt (ill sew it, yes).  And attempt to make a black pirate hat out of foam pieces.  I will post pictures along the way.  Maybe it wont turn out a total disaster!

10 Things I Have Learned In the Last Year!

So this idea did not just come to me in my sleep....I totally stole it from a friend off FB!  THANKS JASON!

10 things I have learned in the last year

1.) How to be a mommy.  Any woman can be a mother, changing dirty diapers, feeding babies who need to be fed, dressing babies in clothes, giving baths (ok...maybe not every woman can be a mother!).  But it takes a special woman to be a mommy.  Someone who gets up early in the morning to have coffee so by the time her baby/child is awake she is dressed and ready to hit the floor playing.  Someone who plays peek a boo for hours just because it makes him laugh.  Someone who lives for bath time at night because her baby loves playing in water.  Someone who will act the total fool all to hear her baby laugh.  Everyday is not easy but I love being a mommy to Harper!  He feels my life with so much love and laughter (such a cliche I know!)!

2.) That I am the perfect mommy for my child.  As hard as things become sometimes and despite the monster mommy who occasionally comes out for a visit I have learned that I am the best mother for my child.  Despite all the "you arent doing it correctly" or "I dont do it like that" or "really you do that" I have come to realize that no other woman could be the type of mother that my child needs.  God knew this little bit of information and totally blessed me with Harper!

3.) As a mommy, it is A OK to ask for help!  NO ONE IS SUPER MOM!  NOT EVEN ME! I know thats hard for all of you to stomach!  HA!  I tried for months to do it.  ALL the laundry, ALL the house work, ALL of my school work, taking care of ALL Harper's needs...and guess what? I FAILED!  I hated asking for help becasue I always felt like I was failing and letting everyone in my life down.  I had help OFFERED FREELY to me but  I turned it down consistently.  But then I started realizing that I was not failing and that asking for help is ok! 

4.) Time really does fly by!  You always know that time seems to go faster the older you get.  However, until you have a child I dont think you truly understand this.  Harper is almost a year old now and that is so hard to believe because it seems like I was just preggo with him!  The time old saying is absolutely true "love them now becasue they grow up too fast!"

5.) Material things and wants are not important what so ever.  Through the last years staying home with my baby I have longed to have so many things (in reality we have way more than most do).  Then one day it hit me that I have an amazing husband who allows me to stay home with our child and everything I cannot "have" is totally worth it.  Maybe those things will come, maybe they wont but regardless I am totally blessed beyond what I deserve!

6.) Making friends is absolutely necessary in the game of motherhood!  I have learned this more recently than ever.  I love EACH AND EVERY ONE OF MY FRIENDS.  But my newer friends who are mommies with children around Harper's age are an amazing benefit to my circle of friends.  They have helped guide me through many "mothering" experiences!

7.) A prayer partner is essential in life!  Through reading the book "The Power of a Praying Wife" God revealed to me that I needed a prayer partner.  Someone who I could be totally, completely open and honest with.  After a few prayers asking Him who that should be He totally led me to the most amazing prayer partner ever!  Thanks (she knows who she is...cant reveal her name, she knows too many embarrassing things about me now!)!  She has become an amazing friend already and I know that without a doubt in my mind I can trust her no matter what!

8.) GOLF IS HARD!  It is probably one of the most challenging things I have ever done (besides being a wife and mother)!  I guess I thought I would walk out there, pick up a club, and hit the ball like a pro.  GUESS WHAT?  I STINK at it!  A few weeks ago I honestly thought about dropping the class and quitting...but I didnt.  Im glad I didnt...even though I am totally awful at it I have so much fun laughing at myself hitting dirt!  :)

9.) I actually enjoy running.  I kept saying I hated it and I would never like it but I do!  I did hate it to begin with but now it has gotten a little easier and I and thoroughly enjoying it!

10.) (This one is so not serious and a little funny)  The Nook Color is an AMAZING INVENTION!  I should have bought one of these a LONG TIME AGO (Ok correction my mommy should have gotten me one of these things a long time ago being as she got me this one!).  It has totally saved my life.  Yes its an ereader but it does SO MUCH MORE!  My entire life is on there.  Now to get Christopher to get me a cover for it and ill be set! (Seriously the covers for those things are EXPENSIVE!)

A Woman In Need Of Motivation!

I am a woman in need of motivation tonight.  I have hit a wall and I no longer want to fulfill any of my responsibilities.  Im not sitting around on my tail eating bon bon's all day...but I just have no motivation what so ever!  HELP!

I used to have (for the most part) the house in order (AT LEAST), laundry done, school work done in advanced, dinner cooked!  Now...we are lucky if the trash isnt over flowing (ok NOT THAT BAD), Christopher has a clean work shirt on Saturday (which has been the case the last two weekends), school work gets turned in within 2 minutes of being due, and dinner is out of a box!

I have no idea what my problem is.  But I need a major overhaul!

THANK HEAVENS, I have an AMAZINGLY patient and understanding husband when it comes to these things.  As long as Harper is healthy and thriving hes ok with helping out in the other areas...which is great!  But I have to feel sorry for him right now because he deserves way better! (NO he doesnt read my blog...he doesnt even have permission to!)

What do you do when you have lost complete motivation to do anything but play with your baby and take naps (of course no joke here when I say I am tired).

Which brings me to the sleep issue.  IT HAS GOTTEN SO MUCH BETTER THE LAST WEEK!  I am so hesitant to say anything because I dont want to jinx anything...but we dont believe in jinxing (is that even a word?!), we believe that all things work by Gods standards!  I switched Harpers schedule a little and did some tweaking....and I dont know if thats it but he is only waking up 1-2 times a night now!  A TOTAL and COMPLETE turn around!  Please, Dear Lord let this continue.

I am hoping that a few weeks of good sleep habits again and I will be back to super mom!  HA!  NOT REALLY...I WAS NEVER AND WILL NEVER BE ANYWHERE CLOSE TO SUPER MOM!  But at least back to being motivated to complete tasks!

A total slacker!

This past week I was a total complete slacker at blogging!  WAIT! I was a total slacker at everything.  My house shows it!  So, today im trying to play catch up. 

Had to catch up the English homework...which was due yesterday, and actually submitted yesterday.  HOWEVER, she returned it to me!  WOW!  Guess it was awful. 

Trying to catch up laundry and house work (havent been too successful since English took up my entire morning!).

And now trying to catch the blog up.

So last week (as many of you probably already know) Tuesday night was a horrendous night in the Barnes household.  Harper screamed all night long.  Well Wednesday he woke up with a clear runny nose, no fever...and being EXHAUSTED I called in the backups and sent him to Blackshear.  Thursday afternoon I get a phone call from my MIL that the childs drainage is now green and hes running a fever.  So Friday we go to the doctor...just a cold...of course nothing we can do but deal!  By Sunday we were all feeling bad.  By Monday Christopher has it really bad and its like having two babies!  :)

On a good note....Gi Gi and Aunt Robyn came to visit Sunday!  I had a happy, happy boy!  He loves his Aunt Robyn...he loves GiGi too...but Aunt Robyn lives far far away!

Monday (yesterday....labor day) GiGi and I took Harper to Darien to the Carters outlet...WOW!  We got some super good deals!  The monkey has all the clothes he needs for the next 3 years!  HAHA!  Ok not really!  But close to it!

While we were out GiGi also got mommy an early Birthday and Christmas present (3 months early!)...I got a Nook Color!  Totally awesome!  Its a great ereader but it does soo much more...not quite as impressive as an ipad of course (which GiGi has...) but its awesome!  Christopher just shook his head...he knows my technology addiction is bad!

I also have not been running in a week...again a total slacker!  I completely forgot yesterday was running day...until THIS MORNING!  WOW!  That was a complete FAIL!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing

Ok so several of you have asked me to blog this recipe...

Chocolate Cupcakes
Prepare 1 Duncan Hines Chocolate Cake mix per instructions on box.  Add 1/4 pouch chocolate pudding to cake mix (this is absolutely what makes a cake moist!  You add pudding to any cake mix and you end up with a moist yummy cake!  Yellow cake: add vanilla pudding!) and mix well.  Fill cupcake pans and bake according to box.

Peanut Butter Icing
1/3 cup Crisco
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
4 cups powdered sugar
4-6 tablespoons milk

1.) Cream Crisco and SOFTENED butter in mixer.
2.) Add peanut butter and vanilla and mix well.
3.) Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time (no matter what you will put all 4 cups in...however, if you add all 4 cups at one time you will end up covered in powdered sugar!)...at this point your icing will be EXTREMELY DRY AND CRUMBLY!!!
4.) Mix in milk 1 tablespoon at a time.  You may or may not have to add all the milk....I use low fat milk on a daily basis and I needed all 6 tablespoons.  You want enough milk to make the icing light and fluffy...