Baby Girl's First Letter From Daddy

I just got home from such a beautiful baby shower.  I feel, oh, so incredibly LOVED and BLESSED.  I will post pictures when I get them, but for now I don't have any.  I decided to go and just let those around me take the photos, so I could visit and enjoy the day as much as I could.  But let me just tell you that it was the most detailed and special and beautiful shower ever!  My friends Pam, Nicole, Barbara, and Sheila put it on for me, along with the help from Stephanie and Crystal.  It was a huge undertaking, which they created the perfect day for me.  Thank you to all who came!  My heart is full of thankfulness.  Not only have you blessed us with your love, support, prayers, and blessings....but, wow, we are feeling set with the practicals too!  What generosity!  And, again, I cannot wait to post pictures!

But I wanted to at least post the letter that was read, that Caleb wrote to our little girl.  It is so Caleb...a mix of tenderness and humor.  I love him.  And I love the way he loves her already.  Oh, it is only a short time til we meet her...and we are counting down the days.


Dear Firstborn daughter from the family of Barnes,

"I am your father" (Darth Vader Voice).  As your earthly father, the Good Lord has entrusted me to protect and provide for you during the first part of  your life, which has already begun.  I will tell you right now that, as you grow up in the world we live in now, you are safe because your daddy will take care of you.  I will neutralize any threat that poses a danger to you as long as Jesus gives me the strength to do so.  

I am so excited to see you face to face, and whether you take after your mother or me, you will be beautiful.  The odds are, you will have dark hair and blue eyes and be athletic and smart.  I am already preparing to scare off boys who think you're pretty.  Don't worry though little girl, I'll only scare off boys that aren't good enough.

As we anxiously await your arrival your mother and I often daydream about the girl you will be and the woman you will become.  You are very blessed because your mom is the wisest and most caring person I know.  She loves the Lord more than anyone, as do I, and together we will introduce you to HIM.  You will grow up in a family with limited earning potential and worldly wealth; however, our family will be rich in love.  We will teach you how to live in a way that pleases God.  Your mother and I have already been blessed by your life.  These last quiet days before your birth are now more precious than they would've been otherwise.  Please don't cry when I hold you, it might hurt my feelings.

As we daydream about your personality, your mom thinks that you will take after me and be a little reckless and somewhat of a risk taker.  If you are that's ok because I'll be looking out for you.  I think that you will take after your mom and be very smart and kind.  We will love you no matter what your strengths and weaknesses are.  It would be nice if you liked to play tennis though, because your dad is pretty good and needs a little competition.  No offense Julie. 

Here's the deal, the Barnes' are fun.  You will grown up having a good time.  We have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus and because of this fact we live in freedom and we are free indeed.  We are not stuffy, or self righteous, or slaves to anything or anyone except Christ.  Because of this we typically always enjoy ourselves in spite of our circumstance, and we will show you how too.  Be ready to come into this world knowing that fun and games are in your future.  Your dad never gets tired of playing games, or singing.  I will teach you how to sing with a southern twang.  It's in your blood.  Your mom actually is not a fan of when I do those kinds of voices but that's what makes it so funny.  I also love to watch animated movies but I have been waiting for you to get here so we can cuddle on the couch and eat banana chips together.

And in closing I want to stress the most important thing to you.  The fact that you are coming into this world means that God has a purpose for you.  You may not know what that is for a while and your mom and I may not know either, but God knows.  Follow Him all the days of your life.  I pray now that God gives your mother and me the wisdom to raise you in a way that glorifies Him.  I pray that you come into this world loving God and that your love grows every day.  We already love you so much and are so thankful to God for blessing us with you.  See you in a few weeks.

Love, Dad

32 weeks and counting....

Last Monday marked my 32nd week pregnant....meaning I am 8 months along!

This means I am now pushing through the end of my pregnancy and all that comes with that.  In fact, it is now 5am and I have been up since before 2:30.  I had laid in bed for an hour before deciding to just get up and read a bit.  I thought it would make me sleepy to go back to bed...but doesn't look like that will happen before I want to be up to get Caleb to work.  So I just made peanut butter toast (that and Eggo waffles have tasted really good to me lately) and have done some reading to get caught up on my book club book again.

One exciting thing is that we think we may have really come up with a name for our little girl this time (finally!).  I had suggested it to him and was shocked that he liked it because it didn't fit his usual style of name that he likes.  But he seems beyond sold on it it!  We are going to keep it on the down low, however, until she is born.  And we will be going in with about 4 names to chose from, just in case.  But he keeps saying we don't need the others, that this is it.  It makes me excited! I didn't know if we would ever come up with one that we were both sold on this much!

In the meantime, I am counting down the days until we get to meet her.  And, at that point, I will have a little sidekick for these sleepless nights!....

New Years Eve/Valentine's Day 2012

What a fun day we have had!  And now it is 7pm and we are at home in our sweats already.  Which is funny because it is New Years Eve.  As most people are out celebrating, we will be at home snuggled up under blankets, celebrating Texas time.  Haha! I think we will be going to bed at about 10:00!

Which is fine considering what a fun day we have had!  The thing is, today we celebrated Valentine's Day.  Back on February 14th, as we drove to a last minute doctors appointment for Caleb, we decided to celebrate Valentine's Day different then everybody else.  We decided that we would each choose a day throughout the year and plan a Valentine's Day date for the other.  So, back in July, Caleb took me on a picnic dinner at a Journey cover band concert.  And today was my turn, and it was such a fun and relaxing day.

First, we went to a marine and hunting store where we roamed and Caleb checked out all these "manly" things.  He was like a kid in a candy store.  And when we left, he said, "Oh that was so fun! It made me happy, happy, happy!"  (Which that saying was in honor of Phil from the Duck Dynasty episodes we have been watching! haha!)  Then, we went to an early showing of The Hobbit at the extra large auditorium at Cinetopia.  Caleb has been wanting to see it all month, so it was fun to take him.  Then we just ran errands together and got Chipotle to bring home.  (Which is something I am slowly starting to handle again in this pregnancy!)

Today was just a nice, simple day.  We are just thankful that we had at least got one day just to spend together, out and about, over Caleb's break.  Tomorrow he is going to do some training so it is kind of like his break is over after tonight.   I cannot believe these two weeks are already over......

Now on to 2013...what a year it will be!!  I am so excited!!

Christmas 2012

We have had such a great Christmas this year.  Although we had the little set back with Caleb's surgery, overall it has been a very relaxing and special holiday.  It has been simple and that's exactly what we love the most.

Christmas Eve was just the two of us.  We talked throughout the day that, after this year, Christmas will never be the same because we will have a little one with us.  How fun will that be!?!?  But for now, we just enjoyed the day together.  Caleb is still recovering so he took a long nap as I made a salmon dinner and cleaned to Christmas music, we played games, and then we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church.  When we got home Caleb put on a slightly cheesy Christmasy chick flick for us to watch before we went to bed as I drank hot cocoa.  It was a great day!

Then, on Christmas Day we headed up to Dad and Diane's.  Again, it was a quiet day...and we even had some snow! It was great to see my sister, Jillene, who is in town from the Bahamas.  Steph and the kids came over and also Diane's mom, Mary, came over as well.  And we just ate, played Settlers of Catan and watched a documentary on Mt. Sinai.  It was so nice just to have a day of rest as we celebrated Jesus' birth with loved ones.  My only regret is that I didn't take pictures again!  But I did snag a couple as we drove and got close to their home.

So today we started to check things off our to-do list again.  We ran some errands and got some things done together.  It did kind of wear Caleb out a little, considering he is still recovering from surgery.  So we are now at home, under blankets, watching Lord of the Rings.  He wants to see The Hobbit later this weekend so he is in a Lord of the Rings mood.  We laughed as he put it on because, if I am honest, I am not a huge Lord of the Rings fan.  But when we dated we watched all of them together.  I just told him that I wasn't trying to trick him into thinking I liked the movies as much as him back then....I think I just loved spending time with him and loved them at that point because I was spending time with him and getting to know him! :)  Actually, one of our favorite memories dating was a day we both worked later in the day, so he came over one morning and I made us a big breakfast and we watched them.  So now he is snuggled up, resting, and watching them once again.

I am so glad we still have a good number of days left of Caleb's break......these days are so special!  In the meantime, I may just close my eyes for a few minutes...or hour...hee hee....

Day #1 Of Our Break: A Hospital Visit

I think it is safe to say that the only real Christmas tradition that Caleb and I have are trips to the doctors.  Two years ago he was down with a bad knee and I had throat surgery...I don't know who was in worse shape that year.  Last year, Caleb couldn't walk with a flare-up and start of the pseudovasculitis.

Which brings me to this year.....

Since day #1 of Caleb's new job, I have literally been crossing off the days on a calendar until his Christmas break.  This calendar is on our refrigerator.  We have been dreaming of two weeks off together, without any physical ailments, to just enjoy spending time with each other over the holidays.

Good news: We still get our break together.  Bad news: We had a minor hiccup in our plans and we may be resting a little more than planned, but that is okay!

Caleb started feeling not so well on Monday but thought it would just go away.  Then Tuesday he went to his last day of work before his two weeks off.  He told me his stomach hurt but didn't want to worry me.  He pushed through it that day, being it was his last day and he had a busy day. But when he got home and started describing the pain to me, I told him it didn't sound like the flu to me.  Plus, he seemed fine unless we were laughing, when he would hold his stomach and moan.

So we waited til morning, day #1 of our break.  But, sadly, he said it hurt worse.  And when I asked him if he wanted me to take him to the doctor, he said, "maybe."  And that is when I knew it was something more serious because Caleb would never consider going to the doctor unless it was.  Before he even got out of bed I called the doctor, and they got him in within the hour.  A half hour after that appointment he had an ultrasound, where we found out that he had appendicitis.  And we were told they could either get an ambulance to take him to the ER or we could drive and they would let them know we were on our way.

Side note: I had not showered in a couple days and didn't think I would be gone all day....ugh.

We stopped by the house for some books and food before going to the hospital.  We hurried to get going.  But the crazy part is that we could have taken our time even though they acted like it was urgent.  We ended up waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting all day for an operation room to open up.  They said that they were over 200% capacity for some reason that day.  We were both in great spirits, literally laughing all day.  After all the things we have been through with Caleb's health, this felt like nothing in comparison.  The hardest part was the thing that hurt Caleb the worst was laughing....and we couldn't stop!  There was one point where I was trying not to laugh so he wouldn't and my face contorted.  So I looked away.  When I looked back at him he looked like he was in pain and I asked him if he was okay.  His response:  "I can't look at your face or I will start laughing."  I was like, "Well, thanks."  And we both busted out laughing, as he held his side.

So finally, at 9:30 at night they wheeled him to pre-op and was out of surgery before midnight.  The hardest part was when they wheeled him away.  And also when I drove home.  I don't know what it is about surgery and being utterly exhausted but it makes you a little more emotional.  Being we were in Clackamas, as I drove home to sleep for a few hours, I drove the route I used to drive when we were dating.  And kept telling God I had no idea back then what an amazing guy He was giving me and just asked God to take care of him.  That was literally only the fifth night we have had apart since we have been married.

The good news, he is doing great and we got him home at 9:30 this morning.  Meaning, it was only a 25 hour inconvenience in our break together.  It is a good thing he got it out.  The doctor said that although he was the healthiest patient they worked on that day, his appendix was the worst by a large margin.

So today we have been in our PJs and just watched TV and taken naps.  To be honest, we haven't talked much cause the only rule is "no laughing" and it seems like he thinks I am really funny these days and has been fighting the giggles.  He says it is like being in church and knowing you can't laugh...it makes it worse.  So it is safer not to communicate much so he isn't having to control his abs!  haha!

There aren't any pictures of post-op cause they definitely are a little worse.  But we have 13 days ahead together and I am sure we will have many memories made!  Either way, I am just thankful to spend time with Caleb.  He is my best friend and I would rather just hang out with him than do anything else anyways! And I am so thankful he is better.....

My First Day Retired! :)

29 weeks tomorrow, and counting...

And this weekend is a very monumental weekend...yesterday I worked my last day at the salon, after over a decade of being a hairstylist!  I don't think it will quite hit me until January, after the holidays are over.  But this is definitely a dream coming true!  I am thankful I will have (hopefully) two months to nest and get ready for Baby to come.  (And, yes, she still is unnamed. haha!)

In the meantime we have been daydreaming of what she will look like and who she will take after.  I have a feeling that she will take after her daddy.  For one, when we were at the ultrasound appointment I had to laugh.  The tech said, "Wow, I only have to do one photo for her feet cause I can get both feet in the same shot...she has her ankles crossed...that doesn't happen often."  I just looked at Caleb and said, "She is already taking after you...all chillin' and relaxing in there the way you do!"  Caleb always sits or lays down with his ankles crossed.  Also, Caleb's mom has told me the story of how when Caleb was young, every single morning he would walk into the kitchen sleepy and request, "chocolate milk warmed up please" and then sit down in a chair.  And, wow, have I been craving chocolate milk!  So we will see soon just who this little girl takes after!

Caleb only has two more days of work until his Christmas break begins.  I cannot wait to just hang out and spend time with him over the holidays! I can honestly say we never get tired of spending time with each other.  He is my best friend and I just love him.  And I know that we will spend some time (finally) tackling the back room that will turn into the nursery.  I need his muscles to move the furniture currently back there for me.  But we will also just relax and cherish the time we have, just the two of us, before our lives forever change.

But for tonight we are just in for the night.  As the wind storm comes in, we are watching football...and I can just enjoy the game because I have officially made the final championship next week in our fantasy football league.  Sounds like a perfect night to me! :)

Another Update in the Life of the Barnes'

The last couple of weeks at our house have been a whirlwind.  In fact, so much so that I think I have got pretty run down and haven't felt so well the last few days.  I think it is just from exhaustion trying to close up my career.  There have even been a couple of days that I have felt like I may faint after standing so many hours at work.  I think I have been just pushing myself a little too much.  So this morning I found myself at home, to rest, as Caleb left to go to church with his buddy Jonah.  You know I am pretty spent when Caleb asks me to stay home from church just have a day of rest.

I can hardly believe that I am in my third trimester!  And I can hardly believe that my career is coming to an end quickly!  In a way it hasn't really hit me yet.  But then when our little girl moves around I quickly am reminded...and am deeply grateful.  I am getting bigger and will post more pictures soon.   And am thinking I will only get bigger during the upcoming months...I am hungry all the time!  My recent cravings have been little Five Guys Hamburgers (must be the iron), and lean cuisine meals of all things, orange juice, and...get this...chocolate milk and yogurt!  It is so crazy because I am somewhat lactose intolerant and have not had a glass of milk in over a decade! And I am totally fine drinking it while I am pregnant.  So I have sent Caleb on many runs for my organic chocolate milk...I have had so much of it! Which probably means I am needing the calcium.

On a different note, a week or two ago we got some scary news.  Caleb's dad, Bob, was diagnosed with larynx cancer and he also has had pre-throat cancer.  This left him and the family with lots of decisions and questions.  At first it looked like the main option was to have surgery and remove his larynx, leaving him without a voice.  However, God has been leading him and his doctors to a new plan of attack.  He will begin radiation treatment next Monday.  The tricky part is he will have it everyday for about six weeks....and the cancer center is two hours away (so a total of 4 hour commute).  Meaning he will have lots of driving in the upcoming weeks!  Being the committed and hard working man that he is, his main concern was his work.  But they have been amazing to him and have told him to do whatever he needs to do, which has freed him up a lot.  But he still plans on working when he is able!  For those who know Bob, that is no surprise. :)  So we all are more hopefully today then we were when he first got the diagnosis.  The doctors are hopeful as well.  And we know that God is working in the midst of this, even in the ick of cancer.  But please pray for him, Sheila, the family, the doctors, for healing, and that God is glorified.  The upcoming weeks will be tough for especially Bob and Sheila.  So please pray for strength physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  It really puts life into perspective, that is for sure.

Lastly, today is a big day at our house.  Caleb and I are playing head-to-head in our fantasy football league. :) Since we are in the playoffs, this means that one of us will knock the other person out of the running.  Considering I have won my league championships the last two years, I am scared that this year Caleb will beat me and ruin my winning streak!  But, I am projected to win, so we will see!  It will be quite an intense day here once he is home from church. lol! :)

So now off to either take a nap, give myself a pedicure, or wrap some Christmas gifts....oh I am thankful for a day in my pajamas!