Aiden and I have been doing "school" together since he was about two. Obviously, we didn't do a whole lot at that age, mostly just some flash cards, learning letters, numbers and colors and reading lots and lots of books. However, since early on he has loved the concept of school and has been such an eager and attentive learner. His excitement to do school and his hunger for knowledge encouraged me to start doing more with him. Once he turned 3, I decided that we would take things a step further and have a structured time 3-4 days a week doing preschool material. I in no way wanted to push him, but I also realized that this is something that he needs. It became clear that he is craving the mental stimulation, as well as all the hands on creativity (Aiden and lack of structure do not go well together!). So I dug out all the curriculum that I used when I taught Pre-K after college, added in some other resources that I have found, and together we have really been having a good time.

He honestly has surprised me so much. As I have mentioned many times before on this blog, Aiden really struggles with self-control and acting on impulse. He is also very strong willed and not always the most compliant (he surely is a sweetie though :)). HOWEVER, when we are doing school together, he morphs into another child. He is sits quietly, works diligently, follows my instructions and directions very well and works hard to please me. He is always sad when our time comes to an end and asks to do more. Not that I am complaining in any way. It is a joy to my heart that (for the moment) this is an area in parenting that is going so smoothly. I used to think that homeschooling probably wouldn't be for us, knowing Aiden's personality, but instead I have seen how homeschooling can be great for us and we are praying for God's direction for our family.

One of the reasons for me doing this post is to share a wonderful resource that I found that might be a help to other mommies out there. While 3 is definitely a very trying year in many ways, it also is an amazing year, watching a child grasp and understand concepts... especially about God. I am absolutely loving all the questions that Aiden has about God and Jesus. I see just how much of a sponge he is and I know that this time is so fleeting. His heart is so tender towards the things of God and he just loves reading the Bible with us. Carl and I see how vital it is at this age to be filling our little boy's mind with God's Truth. All too soon he will start realizing that there are different worldviews out there that will challenge this Truth. It is to this end that I wanted to make sure that we weren't just doing preschool work, but also learning about the Bible. I scoured the internet and found a wonderful free resource out there for moms. It actually is a complete preschool curriculum but it centers around the Bible. What a I really love is that you don't have to do it all, you can pick and choose what you like (so don't feel intimidated), but we are really enjoying the Bible reading schedule, the scripture memorization, and all the activities and crafts that go along with it. Here's the link: http://abcjesuslovesme.com/

I went back and looked over pictures that I have taken over the past few months and some of the fun things Aiden and I have been doing together and I thought I would share some. [As a complete aside, I have to say though, does anybody else who blogs ever feel like they are showing off? Uggh, I think that is the thing I dislike the most about blogging. I enjoy sharing what we are doing as a family and I know so many of you enjoy reading (hi Grandma's), but I never want to sound like I am bragging about something, ever.  Maybe it is just me, but I really struggle with feeling that way? I always wonder what I should share about and if it might come off the wrong way. Anyway, as I have said, that is certainly not my intent and, really, I never have that feeling from others when I read their blogs. I suppose it is always good to check our motives for what we do :)] Now back to the pictures...

Aiden's D duck :)

I am trying to incorporate as many Bible crafts as I can find. I just love all the conversations that they lead to!!

Working on his letters. Yes, he's a lefty!

I bake at least once a week and Aiden is always such a willing little helper. Lots to be learned too with all the measuring and pouring. Fun (although, messy) times :)

We have been studying insects for the past few months. He LOVES insects. I bought him this little bug catcher and we have lots of fun finding and catching bugs. We study them for the day and then we let them go.

Working so diligently!

The first word that he phonetically spelt out. He did this shortly after we got our minivan and we told him it was a Honda. He did the H and the N by himself and just needed a little help with the others, but I was just so thrilled to see that he is understanding it and I think we are ready to start learning to read!

The first time Aiden wrote his name all by himself!!! It was one of those moments that you just feel so incredibly proud of your child. Wasn't so impressed that he wrote it in one of my books, but I guess it really is good because now I will always have it and it will be such a sweet memory. Oh, and he added an X in there too because we had been working on the letter "x" that week :)

Aiden's Apple Art :)

So we went back last Thursday for a redo of the 3D/4D ultrasound. This time the umbilical cord was just slightly in front of his mouth, but towards the end of the session it moved out of the way and we were able to get a good view of his sweet little face! The technician took over 100 pictures so I had a hard time just choosing a few, but I thought these ones were particularly cute :)

Little face. His hand and umblical cord below his face.

Face with umblical cord just below mouth.

Chewing on his wrist :)

So flexible, at one point he had his foot up right next to his face!

Love this little scrunchy face with his hand next to his mouth! When the technician saw his hands, she exclaimed 'Wow, he has big hands!! Carl and I just laughed and told Aiden to show her his huge hands :)

She then checked his feet, and sure enough, more big feet in the Barnes Family :)

Last week we had some 3D/4D ultrasound pictures done. It was quite surreal watching our little guy on the screen. We got to see him yawn many times and even make a squirmy face that had us laughing. It just doesn't seem possible that this miracle is growing inside me. We had a very nice lady doing the ultrasound and she really took her time trying to get good shots. Unfortunately, the umbilical cord was in front of his face the whole time and no matter what we did, it didn't move. She had me get up and walk around, drink water, use the restroom, but it would not budge. She kindly offered to bring us back for a redo to see if we could get some clearer shots, so tonight we get to see our little man again, and hopefully the cord will have moved. We still were able to get some really cute pictures, though, and I can clearly see a strong resemblance between these pictures and Aiden as a newborn.

I think we have finally settled on a name, we just have to decide how we want to spell it. We are so excited to meet him in about 6 more weeks!!!

This pregnancy is flying, I can't believe I am 32 weeks already! It has has gone so much faster than Aiden's. Not sure if it is because this is my 2nd child and I am so busy with Aiden, or because this has been an easier pregnancy AS-wise? I am actually starting to feel sad about this pregnancy ending (ha, although ask me again in a month and I'll probably feel differently) :)

We had the joy last night of having a 3D/4D ultrasound done. We didn't do this with Aiden and so this time we thought we would splurge a little and have it done. I figured I would always regret not doing it, but I would never regret having it done. It was so much fun to see his little face. He is absolutely precious and I cannot wait to meet our newest little guy!! I have to get the pictures off the CD that we got and then I will post some for everyone to see.

This little munchkin is a mover and a shaker. He is in the same position now all the time. He is head down, with his spine along the right side of my stomach with his tooshie at the top, and then his little feet at the left side of my stomach. He loves to stretch out, pushing his feet against my side which then pushes his tooshie and spine out on the other side. It is so fun to watch and certainly makes my stomach take on all kinds of weird shapes :) He also hiccups ALL the time. I feel bad for him, but from what I have read, they don't even notice it right now.

As far as how I am doing, everything seems to be going well. I have been feeling fairly good too. I had somewhat of a flare around the 20 week mark that lasted for about a month. It actuallly wasn't so much a flare, but rather a ligament in my groin that kept popping out of place and causing me pain and making it difficult to walk. It is related to my AS and I have had trouble with them ever since I had Aiden. We think those ligaments were damaged while giving birth. Anyway, thankfully, around the 24th week the ligament popped back into place and it has stayed put since.

Other than that, everything else seems to be pretty much regular pregnancy stuff. I am definitely to the point where I feel large and very pregnant. I haven't had too much swelling so far. Last time I had horrible swelling and had huge cankles. Carl and I still joke about the puffy feet (and legs and thighs) I had :) Probably my biggest discomfort at the moment is the almost round the clock heartburn. Just drinking water brings up all the acid. I have been taking papaya enzymes and then I tried some tums, but they just weren't helping enough. Eventually my OB put me on Zantac and that has helped give some relief.

I took the 1 hour glucose test a couple weeks ago and I failed by 1 point :( I then had to go back and take the 3 hour one, where you have to drink an even sweeter drink and then have to have your blood taken 4 times. Not fun, but thankfully I passed it just fine and I don't have to worry about gestational diabetes. I have also been stuggling with anemia and the subsequent tiredness, dizziness, weakness etc. I knew those signs right away as I was very anemic after having Aiden and I promptly started taking Floradix which brought my levels back up within normal range. This stuff is seriously amazing! I have taken it numerous times over the past few years and each time it brings my iron levels up very quickly. I highly recommend it for anyone who struggles with anemia.

Well, I think that pretty much summarizes how baby and I have been doing over the past couple months. At my next appointment, in just over a week, we will be choosing a date for my c-section. I'll be sure to let you know the when our little babe should make his arrival (unless, of course, he decides to come sooner)!

26 weeks

30 weeks. I really popped out :) I'll get a 32 week one this weekend. I am sure I am even bigger now!

Aiden had to get in the pictures too :)

At the end of last summer I bought some clearance items for Aiden to use this summer. One of things that I bought was a slip n slide, thinking it would be just his kind of thing. It seems I was wrong.

I got it all ready a few days ago. I even watched a couple videos on YouTube with him of other little children on a slip n slide so he would get the general idea (it's not like I could demonstrate for him). He seemed all excited and ready to try it but when we went outside to give it a go, he seemed less than enthused by the whole thing...

Really not so sure about it.

The little fountains seemed to be rather annoying...

... and the water got in his eyes!

He mostly just stood on it and played with the water.

I then tried putting some dish soap on it in hopes to make it more fun for him. He slipped and fell... and the "fun" was over :(

Sometimes this little guy really surprises me. Maybe next year he will enjoy it more!

Just some random pictures from the last couple weeks...

Chick-Fil-A Cow Appreciation Day!

It ended up being the same day that we bought our minivan so we couldn't get there until really late. We contemplated just skipping it, but we would have had one sad little boy on our hands. He was so excited to dress up like the Chick-Fil-A cow!

Having his first smore! I found some gluten free graham crackers and I thought it would be really fun to make smores one night for the boys (the boy in my tummy included ;) )

Just picked our first cucumber of the season with many, many more on the way. Got to start thinking of some creative cucumber recipes!

We needed to buy a ladder to get up into our attic and Aiden wanted to help daddy carry it. I thought the picture was so cute... Aiden looks like a little mini-me of Carl!

About a month ago we took Aiden to see his first movie in the theatre. Carl had received a gift card at Christmas time that we had been hoping to use before the baby comes, and so we were happy when Toy Story 3 came out. Aiden hasn't seen the first 2 movies, but he knows about it from the characters on his nighttime pullups. He was excited to see Woody and Buzz Lightyear :) We had a very fun time together as a family and we all thoroughly enjoyed the movie, I even shed some tears at the end. There were a couple intense/dark parts in the movie but I think Aiden was too young to understand, I imagine children a little older might be bothered by it. Overall though, it was such a good movie and I'm glad that we took the time to do that as a family, it will probably be years before we have the opportunity to go as a family to a theater again!

All excited for his first movie!

With his little booster seat.

Too excited to look at the camera and, boy, can this little guy pack the popcorn away.

Fun times!

I have been so terrible at blogging lately, it is not for lack of trying, just that we have been so busy. All the car accident stuff that needed to be taken care of, along with trying to organize and clear out the 3rd bedroom to make way for our soon-to-be-here new little one, blogging has taken the back seat. I am going to try do better, though, and hopefully get a bunch of new posts up this week.

I'll start off by saying that I am feeling much better from the pain I was having in my back since the accident. I think it has caused more stiffness in my spine, but the terrible pain has subsided and I am so thankful. As far as my car, as we had suspected, it would have cost them more to fix the Jetta than the car was worth, so they did end up totaling it. I was a little sad about that because I really enjoyed that car so much, but at the same time, we had prayed that they would total it because I don't know that I would have ever felt really safe in it again seeing how badly it had been damaged. So we praise God for that!

The next portion is really long so if you don't feel like reading it all, the short and sweet version is that God provided a new car for our family and we praise Him for His faithfullness! Pictures down below :)

After finding out that the car had been totalled, then started the excitement of trying to find a replacement vehicle... and quickly. We contemplated being a one car family for a short time, but dismissed that idea as we thought about the logistics with me being 7 months pregnant and Carl working in downtown Dallas should something happen. Our original plan had been to buy a bigger vehicle in about 6-12 months since Jetta's have an extremely narrow backseat and it was going to be a very tight fit once we had 2 carseats in it. But we were planning on making do until we had finished paying off Carl's student loans and we were able to save up to pay cash for another car (we are determined to not go back into debt). Another reason we were waiting to buy a bigger car was that Carl is still a contract worker for the firm he works for and we are waiting to hear in August sometime what the long-term plan is. They might keep him contract or they might employ him full time, which are both good options, but there is also the chance that they might let him go as there is much restructuring going on. All that to say, now did not seem the time to be making any large purchases that would drain some of our savings that we would need should Carl end up being let go. It was one of those times where you just have to stand back and trust that God's timing and ways are always perfect and know that He would provide for our family.

Which leads us to another praise!  I had read a lot and heard a lot from others that insurance companies are notorious for trying to lowball you when it comes to paying you out for a totaled vehicle. In hearing this I tried to do lots of research to find out the true value of the Jetta so when they came to us to settle for my car, we would know if it was fair or not. It was quite a wide range, depending on which sites you look at, but it gave us a good idea of an amount to be hoping for. I had prepared myself for the phone call and was all prepared with a number in mind and reasons why my car was worth that amount. So when they called a couple days later to settle and they offered me an amount, I was just about speechless. I couldn't believe it, they offered me the very highest amount that we had seen and in addition, money to pay for taxes, registration, inspection, etc on a replacement car. They also paid us the exact value for Aiden's new carseat that we had to purchase and baby #2 carseat and pack n play that were in the trunk of the car (we had loaned them to friends of ours who out visiting with their little baby) and were damaged. I couldn't believe it!!! It was enough to pay cash for a new (to us) car without going into debt and without dipping into our savings!! What we had been praying for!

That night we poured over the internet looking for a new car. We had already planned on purchasing a Honda Odyssey when we first starting thinking about a bigger car so thankfully I had done research ahead of time on certain years to avoid and price ranges etc. We knew that we were looking for a 2002-2004, around 100000 miles and in our price range. We spent hours that night looking and comparing and mapping different dealers that we were going to go to that weekend. We also had found a couple vans on Craigslist that looked like good possibilities. As it was getting close to midnight, Carl refreshed Craigslist one last time and a new entry popped up. A 2004 Odyssey in our price range that looked like it was in excellent condition and ONLY had 69000 miles, which if you have done any minivan shopping, is really low. Most of the newer models had even more than that. It almost looked too good to be true. So Carl called first thing the next morning to see if we could meet the sellers that night. They agreed and we drove out to Frisco after Carl got off work. The van really was in immaculate condition, inside and out, you could see that they had taken really good care of it. Carl checked out the engine and called our mechanic to ask him a few questions. It all looked so good! We knew we either had to buy it then or it would be snapped up by someone else. We then prayed together as a family that the Lord would bless this purchase and if it wasn't His will, that something would fall through. We told the owners that we wanted to buy the car and they were thrilled to sell it to us (well, except for their little boy who burst out crying because people wanted to take his car :( ). The Lord provided!

So now we are a minivan family. I know this was really long and detailed, but since this blog also serves as a scrapbook/journal, I really wanted to remember this story of God's faithfulness and provision for our family and how He truly does "work all things for good". It is so wonderful to step back and see God's hand weaved all through our lives. Through all the blessings and trials, He is leading and guiding us and He cares so much about each little detail!

Our new minivan

Another view for Grandma's who have been asking to see pictures :)

Aiden LOVES the van!

Too cute! On our way to church with bear and puppy strapped in for the ride :)

Well, I am really behind in blogging here, but to say that life has been a little crazy lately would be an understatement. Last Wednesday Aiden and I were out and about running errands. We had just been to Wal-Mart and were heading over to the dollar store to pick up a couple things. We were on one of the very busy main roads in town, with stores and restaurants on each side, and with 3 lanes each way. For some reason the traffic in my lane stopped suddenly (I couldn't see why because an SUV was in front of me) and so I had to stop quite suddenly too. Once I was safely stopped I then took my eyes off the car in front and looked back in my rearview mirror to make sure whoever was behind me was stopping too. It was then that I noticed another SUV racing up behind me and it wasn't stopping. I honked my horn to try get the person to notice that we had stopped, but I guess she couldn't hear. So I gripped the steering wheel as hard as I could and braced myself and was praying over and over "God protect us, God protect us". The lady did not stop at all, she plowed straight into the back of us which then pushed my car into the SUV in front. The rest is a little blurry in my mind, but Aiden immediately started crying and I turned around to see him covered in glass from the shattered rear window. He then actually got a little mad at me and started saying "no mommy, no mommy". Poor little guy, he must have been so confused and wondered why mommy would do all this. The other people in the accident got out of their cars and came to see if we were alright. I immediately started crying and told them that I was pregnant. They helped me out the car and we went around to get Aiden out of his seat. Miraculously, he did not have one single cut on him from the glass, just a couple mild burns from the straps from his carseat and he otherwise seemed fine. I quickly called Carl and told him (along with more tears) that we had been in an accident and thankfully he was able to leave work right away. The police arrived shortly after and once they found out that I was expecting they called an ambulance for me. The poor lady who hit me kept saying over and over how sorry she was and that she had just looked down for a moment and didn't see that the traffic had stopped. I said that it was okay and that it was such an easy thing to do, but all the while, I was just praying for the little one in my womb and that he was alright. Thankfully, the ambulance arrived quickly and Aiden and I were immediately taken to the hospital.

They checked me out at the ER and wanted to know how I was feeling. I told them that I felt sore, but I was mostly worried about the baby and that I hadn't felt him move since the accident. They sent me up to labor and delivery and hooked me up right away to the fetal monitor. The best sound was hearing the little baby's heart beating away and that it sounded healthy and strong. Carl and I thanked the Lord. I had to stay hooked up to the monitor for 4 hours so that they would be able to see if baby was in any distress. I would have thought an ultrasound would have been best, so they could see the baby, as well as check that the placenta hadn't separated, but they told me that the fetal monitor is actually the most accurate way to determine if the baby is harmed in any way. At the end of the 4 hours the nurse said that our little boy was doing very well and that we could go home. Praise God!

The already very long day was even longer when I had to stay in the hospital waiting room all tired and sore with a 3 year old who was hyped up from the days events, as well as being overtired because he missed his nap, while Carl had to run out and buy a new carseat for Aiden. Finally Carl came back to the hospital and put in the new carseat and we were on our way home, exhausted, but SO thankful for God's protection and grace that he poured out on our family. Two very specific ways, amongst many others, that we saw God really protecting us is that Aiden had NO injuries from either the cars impact or the rear window being smashed all over him and he didn't have a single cut! The other is that, for whatever reason, my airbags did not deploy. Baby could have been really hurt (or worse) had they gone off, along with the fact that I could have been really injured due to my Ankylosing Spondylitis in my spine and hips. We truly praise God for His care for us.

So now we are waiting to hear about my car. It is almost certainly totalled, but tomorrow, we should hear for sure. My back and neck were sore for the first few days and then Sunday started to feel better. Yesterday, however, I started to develop terrible pain in my back and around my ribs and it really hurts to move. I am going to try get in to see my Rheumatologist and see what could be going on. I am praying that the accident hasn't affected my AS, and that it is just muscular pain that will heal.

The day after the accident we went over to the tow place to collect all the stuff that was in my car since we most likely won't see it again :(

Front end damage. Radiator was smashed, not sure what else was damaged in the engine.

The rear. So thankful that my Jettta was such a strong and sturdy car!

At the hospital just before we were discharged. Tired and sore (although I do look amazingly peppy considering the days events) but SO thankful that my little boys are OK!

I have always been a fan of swimming, but this summer the pool is particularly my friend. Right now it is hot, it is humid and I am 6/7 months pregnant!!  Aiden and I have been to a couple parks in the past few weeks, but I found that it is pretty much unbearable, even the shaded ones, so I have decided that the best place to be is at the pool. It gets us out the house and gives Aiden the physical outlet that he needs, and I feel great when I am in the water!

All excited to go swimming!

Being goofy... I asked him to smile and this is what I got!

So comfortable being in the water!

He is doing really well swimming with the floaties. I think next summer will be the perfect time to start him with swimming lessons.

This past Saturday we had a pool party with the Young Married's Bible Study from our church.

Couldn't wait to get in the pool.

The pool was packed with little kids and the daddy's, while the mommy's all sat under a nice shady tree and chatted :)

All the pool toys were a great hit!

Waiting to eat lunch.

Aiden found a little swing to play on in the backyard.

Just a few random pictures from the past couple weeks...

The boys went out to get the mail one afternoon and I looked out the window and this is what I saw... totally cracked me up, apparently Aiden thought this made a good hat. (It is the cover to my microwave heating bag in case you are wondering what he is wearing)

Chatting to me while doing the dishes :)

Enjoying a home baked GF oatmeal cookie

Watching a little of the Soccer World Cup. US vs UK, our house was a little divided that day :)

Showing his patriotism :) I didn't realize until later in the day that I had I had unintentionally dressed him to coincide with the game!

We had been long overdue for a date night and one day while Carl was at work, he sent me a text message saying that he had called our babysitter and that she would be coming over on Sunday night to watch Aiden. I was just thrilled that my hubby had taken the initiative to do this and even more thrilled at the idea of some alone time with him, especially before our new little baby boy joins our family!

He told me I could decide where we should go and what we would do. Of course I chose going out to dinner. I wanted to do something where we could sit and talk without interruption. I also wanted to go somewhere different. While thinking about it, I remembered that Carl and I had once been on a date to The Melting Pot when were were first dating and we really enjoyed it. If you have not been there before, it is a restaurant that serves fondue in very relaxed and romantic environment. The lights are dim and music plays softly - perfect for a romantic date. As with all restaurants, though, we always have to check first to see if they have anything gluten-free that we can eat. I hopped online and was beyong excited to see that they just didn't have one or two items, but they have a gluten-free version of their whole menu. Now that is just AMAZING! Never before had I seen a restaurant with that many GF choices!! When I told Carl, he was really excited too! That is the one thing that is particularly hard about our family being gluten-free, we can hardly ever just try any new restaurant for fear that they have nothing we can eat or worse yet, say they can make something for us but then it ends up being contaminated (which is just terrible for Carl since he can't eat a smidge of gluten without getting very sick) so we just stick with the few that we know are safe. How nice to have another option for special occasions!

It ended up being such a special evening and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Of course I took lots of pictures :)

First course was cheese fondue with apples, broccoli, cauliflower and celery. Absolutely delicious! It usually also comes with bread and chips, but of course those were not GF.

Next was a delicious side salad!

We shared just one Entree between us and it was plenty. Beef for Carl and chicken for me to cook in a yummy broth along with lots more veggies!

All kinds of dipping sauces too.

Followed by dessert. We were feeling pretty full by this point but I told Carl I just had to have their chocolate fondue as a special treat :) So we ordered the white chocolate fondue with strawberries, banana's and pineapples. SOOOOOOOOO good!

The last time when Carl and I went to The Melting Pot we were beyond stuffed, to the point where we were walking around the parking lot afterwards to try feel better (Carl felt especially bad). This time we felt full, but not bad. I am pretty sure it is because we shared the meat entree, but also because of the fact that we ate it GF and so we weren't eating any bread or chips with the fondue or cakes/brownies with the dessert. Looking back it must have been all the gluten that we ate that night that made Carl feel so terrible.

I am now on a quest to replicate a fondue night at home. I have a little fondue pot that we were given as a wedding present that I have never used and I actually found some of The Melting Pots recipes online. I am eager to go shopping this week so we can enjoy some more yummy fondue :)

While at The Melting Pot, Carl and I were trying to remember the last date that we had been on. We thought it was the Alumni reunion back in August of last year, but then we remembered that we actually had an all day date back in March and for some reason I never blogged about it!

Most of you know that we are huge Dave Ramsey fans! Sometimes in the afternoons, while doing dishes, I'll have his radio show on. Well, one particular day I was listening to his show and he happened to be announcing for the first time the locations for his upcoming spring conferences. Dallas happened to be one of them and the first 1000 people that ordered tickets got them for $9.99 a person (usually $50 per person). I quickly called Carl and asked if we could go, he agreed and so I got online and snagged 2 tickets for us.

The conference was fantastic! It was held at a huge church in Dallas called "The Potter's House" and there were at least 5 or 6 thousand people there in total, as well as it was being broadcasted to satelite sites in other areas.  We had so much fun. We learned that Dave Ramsey is a very funny guy and he kept us laughing a good chunk of the conference. The majority of what he went over is in his book Total Money Makeover, but it was so good to hear it directly from him and to keep being inspired and encouraged as we are in the final stretch to being debt free.

We were a little high up, but it didn't matter!

One of the many things that Dave mentioned that resonated with us is how in the majority of marriages, one spouse is the "nerd" and the other spouse is the "free spirit" when it comes to finances. That is totally us :) Often times Carl and I haven't necessarily seen eye to eye on something financial, but it was good to see how we can compliment each other. I would be the nerd and Carl, the free spirit. Carl loosens me up where I can be too rigid with finances, yet I help reign him in when he wants to be a little too free. It actually works really well, but we had just never thought about it that way.

Not the best pictures, but you get the idea.

Here are some of my favorite Dave Ramsey quotes:

• - "Live like no one else, so later you can live like no one else" and our personal favorite "live like no one else, so you can give like no one else"

• "A fully funded emergency fund is not a wealth building tool. It will rain and this will be your umbrella"

• “A recent study found that when paying cash, you actually spend 12-18% less because spending cash hurts.”

• "Giving is possibly the most fun you will ever have with your money"

• "Don't be normal, normal is broke, be weird" :)

If you haven't read any of his books, I would highly encourage it. He is not a get rich quick kind of speaker, but rather just a very wise man when it comes to handling finances. The Lord is using him in the lives of many people to help them be good stewards of the money that He has given to them. His books have helped us tremendously. Through a rough couple years ourselves: having a baby, going down to one income, moving out of state, major medical bills, major car repairs, etc, etc, all in the span of about a year hit us VERY hard, but by God's grace and the solid advice of Dave Ramsey we have found our feet and we are so thankful!

His book lists 7 baby steps to financial freedom: Have a $1000 emergency fund; Pay down all your debt (except for your house); 3-6 months of expenses in savings (to avoid having to go back into debt and catching the unexpected events in life); Investing in IRA's and Retirement plans; College funding for children; Paying off your home early; and, lastly, Build wealth and give like you have never given before! Obviously he goes into greater detail in each step, but that is the basic idea. So simple, yet the vast majority of American's do not live this way and that is why we have such a huge debt crisis. Anyone can do it, we just have to "learn to live on less than we make"!

                                                                          BOY!!!

Our new little guy!

Yes, that's right, the Barnes Family has another little boy on the way! We went for our ultrasound this past Friday and we were thrilled to see a healthy and active little guy! I think in some ways Carl and I were surprised to be having another boy. We both grew up as part of a pigeon pair and I think we were somehow expecting that our children would be that way too. It turns out God has other plans :) I was a little sad at first to think we wouldn't be having a girl this time around, but then the more that I thought about it, I realized just how wonderful it will be for Aiden to have a brother. Aiden is the type of boy that needs a brother. Goodness, I need him to have a brother. He is ALL boy and I get weary with his boundless energy and excitement. Another boy to play with... and wrestle with... will be such a joy and a blessing (although I'm sure at times crazy too)! We cannot wait to meet this new little man :)

I was looking at the ultrasound pictures and was wondering if baby will look similar to Aiden. I then started looking through some pictures of Aiden when he was a newborn and I think I do see some possible resemblance.

Notice the chin and the mouth...

...I think the shape looks the same.

See his open little mouth...

... it reminded me of this picture I took Aiden's first night home from the hospital. Ha, although this picture is deceiving, he cried almost the whole night long!

We don't have a name yet for this little one. Carl and I can't seem to agree on what we like. We have the 100,000 + Baby Names book, but it is like a maze going through it. Probably 80-90% are names I would never even consider in a thousand years. HA!

Now that we know we will have 2 precious boys, I think Carl and I are even more eager to pursue adoption down the road if that is God's will. It just seems like such a wonderful way to complete our family. We don't know what God has in store, but we are talking about it and praying about it and we are excited to see where God leads. We are so very thankful for His kind and gracious gifts to us!

I have always wanted to have my own vegetable garden. I liked the idea of the convenience and cost-saving factor, as well as the fact that you can grow a heathier product since you control what goes in the soil and what isn't sprayed on the plants. Surprisingly, Carl has been just as excited about it as I have. Usually he just lets me implement things that I think will be beneficial and healthy for our family and he is happy (most of the time :) ) to go along with my ideas, but with this he has been genuinely excited. I think it is largely due to the fact that growing up, his grandparents grew most of their own fruits and vegetables in their yard and he has very fond memories of that.

Since we made the switch to purchasing only organic foods last year to improve our health, we have been even more eager to get our little garden started. Some organic produce prices are comparable to conventional, but some are just downright expensive. We do belong to a local co op, but we have chosen not to order their produce box since I am pretty picky about what I want to buy each week, and I like to plan my menus in advance. A large portion of our grocery budget goes to fresh fruits and veggies, since this is what we eat the most, so we are hoping to see a drop in our budget now that we can grow some of our own.

For this first season we have planted 6 tomato plants, 3 zuchinni plants, 3 cucumber plants, 1 green pepper plant, cilantro, basil and mint.

My sweet hubby built 2 4x4 raised beds. We plan on adding another 2 next year if this season is a success. The flowers we planted along with the vegetables are Marigolds, they are supposedly an excellent natural pesticide. Plus they make the beds look pretty :)

We have 3 little tomatoes already. We planted 6 tomato plants (2 of which are cherry) since tomatoes are one of the veggies we use the most and they are pretty expensive at the store. $1.25 per organic tomato. Crazy!

Little zuchinni plants starting to sprout.

Cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro and basil in this one. The cucumber plants have already started sprouting since I took this picture 2 days ago.

We are hopeful that this will be a rewarding experience. We both don't naturally have green thumbs, but we are eager to learn and we are thankful for the internet. I just learned of a excellent book called "Square Foot Gardening" which we are going to purchase. It has so much information about how to make the most of your own little garden and how to plant as much as you can with the space that you have. It looks lilke a lot of things we should have implemented this year, but that's okay, we can do better next year.

The boys went off to Walmart this weekend for a couple things and they brought this little T-ball set back for Aiden. He loves it and has been out everyday this week so far, hitting the ball over and over. It seems he has a good arm and can hit the ball quite far, but really what do I know. I just know that any exercise/sport that lets him run around and tire him out is a good one :)

Getting ready to hit!

Here he goes again... notice Puppy in the background

Run, little Aiden, run!

Just a cute one :)

He specifically wanted to have a picture taken with Puppy. Notice how he even put his arm around him. Lol!

This is Aiden's puppy, affectionately known as, well, Puppy. Puppy was actually a gift to me from a friend when I was back in college. Due to lots of moving since my college days, Puppy's home had been in a big apple box along with other things from over the years. About a year ago I was looking through some of my boxes to see what was inside, with Aiden helping of course, and he happened to spy this cute little dog. He asked me what his name was, but I couldn't think of a good name at the time, so I just said "Puppy". Well the name stuck and ever since he and Aiden have been the best of friends!

They do almost everything together. Over the year as Aiden has grown, so has his love for Puppy. He often takes car trips with us as we run errands, although Puppy must stay in the car. Puppy can almost always be found "helping" Aiden with whatever he is doing, be it playing with his trains, riding in his car, doing puzzles or just hanging out with us at the kitchen table while we eat or do crafts. When I put Aiden down for his nap in the afternoons I can hear all kinds of conversations over the monitor between the 2 of them... "Would you like a sip of water?" "oh, you would, here you go", "it's time to go to sleep Puppy, here's your blankie", "aww, Puppy, I weally love you". It just makes me smile!

About a month ago we thought we lost Puppy. We couldn't find him anywhere. The 3 of us practically turned the house upside down looking for him. We had to tell Aiden that we didn't know where he was, but we were sure he would come back. He was one sad little boy! It was then that I hopped on the computer and started trying to see if we could find a replacement. They no longer make Puppy, but I was able to find one on ebay from a store that sells discontinued toys. I quickly purchased it, but the next day we actually found Puppy inside Aiden's pillowcase of all places?? Silly us for not thinking to look in there! Replacement Puppy came in the mail a few days later and it is now up in our closet, still in the box, just in case we really do lose his little friend someday :)

Here is a picture of baby and me. I took this a week ago, so I'm sure I have popped out some more. I am almost 20 weeks. Yay!

This past Sunday we ended up in the ER for a good part of the day. I have been having lots of Braxton Hicks with this pregnancy, but I haven't been too worried since I had plenty of them with Aiden too. However on Sunday, for whatever reason, I was having tons. All the books say you shouldn't have more than 4 an hour, but I was having way more than that. They just kept coming. At one point, my stomach stayed firm for over 20 minutes. That definitely freaked me out, so we decided it would be best to head to the ER. Unfortunately because I was under 20 weeks (19 1/2 weeks at that point) they wouldn't see me up in labor and delivery, but had to be seen in the ER instead which meant everything took forever and made for a very long evening/night. Thankfully I saw a great Dr and he checked me to make sure I wasn't dilating and then did some other tests, as well as listened to the baby's heartbeat. All seemed well and so he called my OB just to make sure he wasn't missing anything. My OB said that as long as I wasn't dilating that I was fine to go home and that I needed to take it easy.

I have been trying to rest more the past couple days (not always easy with Aiden) and make sure I am drinking plenty of water. Thankfully the contractions have calmed down a lot and I praising God that baby is doing well.

So I thought it was time for another pregnancy update :) Today I am 18 weeks along and everything seems to be going well so far! I have yet to have my 20 week ultrasound, but I am sure it will be coming up in the next couple weeks, and we are praying that our little one is developing and growing well.

My nausea and throwing up started to slowly get better around 14/15 weeks. I am still nauseous each night, but I have only thrown up once in the past couple weeks. What a relief! I am a terrible thrower upper, not that anybody is a good one, but I still "almost" cry each time :( I am also eating most foods again (but still gluten-free, etc.) and thankfully I am almost back at my pre-pregnancy weight this week after losing 7 pounds in the first trimester. I will say that being gluten-free has been really hard during this pregnancy. It didn't bother me before getting pregnant, but now I am really craving bready things and none of the GF stuff I make seems to satisfy. I honestly would just love to have a Subway sandwich or even a handful of (not rice) crackers :) Oh well, I am definitely not going to start eating gluten now, since it really does seem to be helping my AS!

I did have a pretty bad arthritis flare during my 14th week. It was mainly in my right SI joint, but I was in a lot of pain and I had trouble walking. I had started to get upset thinking about having to take medication that so many books and internet threads (yes, I know, I need to stay off google) say are big "no, no's"  Thankfully, my sweet OB/GYN was happy to let me take the medication I needed, and reassured me that it would not harm the little babe, and reminded me that in the first 2 trimesters most NSAIDS have a category B rating, which is the same as Tylenol. The flare lasted a week and then one morning I woke up and the pain was gone. Just like that, and since then I have been feeling good! What a blessing!

Our little one is moving like crazy! I felt the first kicks on my birthday at 14 wks 5 days. At first I thought that I couldn't be feeling movement so early since I only noticed Aiden in the 18th week, but then a couple nights later, while laying down in bed, I put my hand on my stomach, and sure enough, little one kicked my hand. It has got me wondering, though, if he/she will also have big feet like daddy or big brother or, help me, have the same energy level Aiden has :) :)

I told Carl the other night, I am just enjoying this pregnancy right now! I don't think I ever said that during Aiden's pregnancy. Not that I didn't love carrrying a child and all the wonder and excitement of a new life growing inside me, but it just really stunk being in pain all the time and my doctors not allowing me to take anything to find some relief. It probably also has a lot to do with the fact that there were many times over the past few years that I had resigned myself to the fact that I would not be pregnant again. I didn't think I would feel the joy of a little life moving inside my womb again, or being able to watch my tummy grow, or even just look through pregnancy books and marvel at how our baby is developing each week. Now that I am experiencing those things, my heart is just bursting with praise and thanksgiving to God!!

Last week I took Aiden in for his 3 year old check-up. He is doing really well and continues to grow really well too :) He likes our pediatrician, which certainly makes our visits easier, and he even gave the Dr a big hug at the end of the appointment, without my prompting. Very cute!

Having his blood pressure taken. The tiny cuff the nurse pulled out was so cute, I had to snap a picture!

I think what I really appreciate most about his pediatrician, is that he is full of good and helpful advice (he is a strong believer). As we enter the 3's, Aiden has definitely been showing us a whole new level of independence and strong will, along with his boundless energy. It can be very challenging and exhausting at times to know how to train and parent him. His Dr offered some good suggestions, a couple good books we should read, and then he reminded me that children like Aiden are often our leaders in society. I left feeling encouraged that we keep pressing on in these difficult areas, as well as being just so thankful that even though Aiden can be challenging at times, he also is such a sweet, sweet boy, who is so dear at expressing love and kindness! He also has a great sense of humor and well, he is just darn cute. Not that I am biased or anything :)

So here are his latest measurements and percentiles:

Weight: 34.5 lbs (77%), Height: 38.5 inches (67%) and this is a new one, BMI: 16.8 (73%). As you can see, he is certainly a solid little boy. I wonder if he will slow down at some point, since Carl and I were both pretty scrawny kids. We'll have to watch and see.

Here are 2 cute pictures that I took of Aiden a couple weeks ago. Thanks to Aunt Jenny for his shirt and Grandma for the cool glasses :)

Looking cool :)

Sweet boy!