Various pictures taken recently...

Cousin Macon is loving the "big" cousin role to Ivy. He loves her. Jessica placed Ivy in his stroller the other day and they were so cute. He loves playing with her toes whenever he is around her.

We were at a local park for a friends birthday party. They have a really neat train at the park and it was a highlight for all the kids.

Joe captured this shot of Jonas. Love it!

Ivy LOVES to swing!

self portrait of me and Ivy-I don't do these often...you can see why

swimming with daddy

Our beautiful Jonas...we can still say beautiful at 3 right?

first bath together

We were at my parents one night and due to a problem I have with my hands called Dyshidrosis, my dad was helping with giving the kids a bath in their big garden tub. Jonas and Ivy had never had a bath together and Ivy just recently became solo in the tub. So I was a little reluctant but they both did great. Here are some shots!

I'll post more about Dyshidrosis later.

catching up again....

Joe started new hours at work in June. We've enjoyed having more family time together in the mornings. We've been able to swim together at Joe's parent's pool, go to the park, zoo etc...its just been a better variety than what we were used to. He leaves after lunch to go to work, around the time I put the kids down for a nap. Its given me more time with friends in the evening whether it be a girls night out or having a friend over for dinner, or making a meal for friends in need. I've enjoyed the new change. However, there have been plenty of evenings I wish Joe was here to veg with me on the couch watching Forensic Files or The First 48. :-)
We were able to go to a family reunion on Joe's mother's side of the family recently. It was a nice little get away. We drove to West Virginia for a weekend. This was the first road trip with both kids. It went pretty well. We are thankful for portable DVD players!

sleeping babies in the car

one of the houses Mom Barker grew up in
Jonas and daddy by the OHIO River, on the Huntington W.V. side.

On our way back from W.V we were able to stop in Johnson City, TN to visit a friend and co-worker of mine. We have met in person 3 times now. We both work from our homes. We have so many things in common, most of all our salvation. Its been a neat friendship. These are her beautiful daughters. Jonas had fun taking a few hours out of our trip to play with the girls. Can't wait to see you again Dana!

Anniversary!

Joe and I celebrated 9 years of marriage in August. We've been together for almost 14 years. Its crazy to think that's even possible! We are encouraged to see how the Lord has blessed us and worked in our lives over this period of time. I can truly say our marriage continues to grow as we focus on Christ and we desire to do what is right. One thing that has been fun this year is having a guaranteed date night once a month. We have made an effort, with the help of family babysitters, to go out to a nice dinner. Sometimes coffee follows, but more than once a grocery shopping trip followed. Which is nice for me, so I don't have kids on tow! This time together has helped us keep our communication open and steady. We often find it hard to have conversations with the kids around. Jonas is always interjecting or just being loud and we lose our thought process etc...like every parent I'm sure! So, the date nights have been great! I hope we can keep it up next year! Love you Joe Barker...thanks for 9 wonderful years!

Jonas-he is probably the average 3 year old now. At many times we have felt as if we hit the terrible 3's. There has been constant correction involved. Some days are very draining for both Joe and I. Lately Jonas has decided he doesn't need his afternoon nap, which just isn't work friendly for mama. He has always loved his sleep so its hard for me to believe that he going from 2 hr naps to nothing isn't more than just him testing me right now. We'll see. I'm not giving in yet...but falling asleep at 4 p.m. -6 p.m. isn't exactly a great idea to me either. The kids rooms are right next to each other. I don't mind if he plays in there but his play is usually loud and then wakes Ivy. So, we'll see how things go and how creative I might need to get. Its just been stressful. On the other hand, Jonas is very sweet, loves to sing and is memorizing every song he learns. Its been fun to challenge him with certain songs and here him bellow out those notes.

Ivy-our baby girl is now 9 months old. She started crawling at 8 mos and is now pulling up on everything. She isn't quite walking around the furniture yet, but close. Tooth #9 is making its way. Yes, I said 9. Ugh...She has constantly teethed and her night sleeping still stinks. I long for the day of her sleeping through the night again. She is talking some and her words are: Daisy(our dog), da-da, uh-oh, mama, and no-no. Her facial expressions are changing a lot and she is cracking us up every day. She still takes a morning nap and afternoon nap. Her afternoon nap is usually 2 hrs if the morning nap doesn't go very long.

I'll post more pictures of the kids in the next post. :-)