Last weekend we finally went out and bought Aiden a big boy bed! It was very bittersweet moving him out of his crib, but it was definitely time! It has been a much easier transition than I thought it would be and he just loves having his own big bed.

We haven't had any trouble at bedtime, he just snuggles up and goes right to sleep. Naptimes have been a little harder, a couple times I had to go in and discipline him for jumping on the bed (I can't blame him though, I know I would have done the same) or being too rowdy, but overall he has done a fabulous job adjusting and for that I am SO thankful!

He looks so little in the bed!

He is still using his crib blanket, but it barely covers his legs. I need to see if I can find a good deal on a cute bedset for his big boy bed!

In the past month or so, Aiden has really become very sweet and loving. He has always been a sweet boy, but he has become much more expressive in showing it. It just blesses my heart. So many times in the day he will climb into my lap and give me a big hug and kiss and tell me that he loves me. I think there are few things in life as precious as this. A couple nights ago we could hear him calling for me over the monitor (yes, we still use it!) asking me to come and snuggle with him. Of course, I was only too happy to oblige, and so I climbed into bed next to him and we spent a good 15 minutes just snuggling, talking to each other and singing songs. This coming from a boy who is always on the go and really struggles with self-control, what a joy!

This New Years Eve we stayed up past midnight! The first year we had Aiden I think we climbed into bed around 10pm and slept through it. Last year I actually can't remember what we did. This year we enjoyed homemade pizza and games as a family, and then Carl and I watched the movie "Julie & Julia" (very sweet movie, we highly recommend it) after Aiden went to bed. We paused the movie at mere seconds till midnight to turn over the channel and watch the countdown, we said "happy new year" and gave each other a hug and then carried on with our movie.  Very different than life before kids, but this is a new season and a very enjoyable one!

We played the game 'Cootie' that Aiden got for Christmas!

He was very proud of his 'Cootie' :)

We had a very enjoyable Christmas! We enjoyed Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at home just us, and then drove down to Houston Christmas afternoon to spend the rest of weekend with Carl's family.

Aiden really enjoyed Christmas this year! He loved all the lights and the decorations. He understood that it was Jesus' birthday that we were celebrating, but couldn't quite figure out where Jesus was. Very sweet :) I imagine next year he will understand more and we look forward to doing advent with him. He also loved all the presents! This year we spoiled him a little bit, as did his grandma's, uncle and aunts! Most of his current toys were toys from when he was a baby, so he was certainly in need of some more age appropriate activities. I was able to find lots of great deals and was able to get quite a bit for a very reasonable amount. (Sidenote. I had not thought of this before this Christmas, but Michaels has lots of excellent quality toys for kids (such as Melissa and Doug), puzzles, blocks and games etc. and you can use the 50% off coupons that come in the paper. We went back over a few nights with a coupon for each of us and got some great toys for Christmas and Aiden's birthday at great prices).

I have to take our Christmas tree down tomorrow. The poor thing is looking very dried out and sad, and I am pretty sure it is a fire hazard. It is always sad to see Christmas go, but I am so thankful for such a precious season to enjoy so many of the good things in life that the Lord has graciously given to us!

We woke up to a white Christmas outside! So fun!

Christmas morning.

Annual picture in front of the Christmas tree on Christmas morning.

Night before Christmas daddy doing his fatherly duty and putting together Aiden's bike!

There was much excitement from Aiden when he found the bike on Christmas morning.

Carl's present from me. A new alarm clock. (We were still waiting for it to arrive a the time). This one is really cool...it projects the time onto the ceiling so you just have to look up in the middle of the night to see the time!

Carl's present to me. A steam mop. Yippee!

Super fun presents for Aiden from Meemaw and Uncle and Aunty in England.

Awesome train set from IKEA. The whole set for less than $20. (There are many more pieces that you don't see)

We had a great time with family down in Houston. Always so refreshing to spend time down there!

Today will be one of the most memorable Christmas Eve's for me! It has been snowing most of the day and it is finally letting up at 8:30pm this evening. This will be my first white Christmas ever, and it is in Texas of all places!. Just yesterday it was a warm 75 degrees and nice and sunny. Today is has been 32 degrees with snow and blizzards! How quickly things change around here.

We didn't go out for very long since Aiden has a cold. We just went to check the mail and back. I practically had to drag him back inside, though, because he wanted to play :(

So pretty! The snow was blowing everywhere!

Tried to get a snap of our house this evening, but I got a lot of the snow flakes.

As I am all curled up and warm in our house on this cold and wintery night, I am so thankful for all of God's abundant blessings upon my life. For my precious husband and son, my family and friends, warm food and clothes, a roof over our heads, a job for my husband, the list can go on and on. However, the most important blessing that I am thankful for, is my Savior. I am so thankful that He came to this earth as a babe, that He lived a sinless life, that He died on the cross for our sins and that rose again on the third day, conquering sin and death. He bore the wrath of God so I don't have to. What an amazing gift! I pray for each one of you, that you too, would receive this gift, that you would trust Christ as your Lord and Savior and that you would truly know the reason why we celebrate Christmas!

May you have a blessed Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Love, The Barnes Family

A few weeks ago (yes, it's been that long since I last posted...sorry), when we went to Home Depot to get our Christmas tree, we stumbled upon the little workshop that they have once a month for kids. I had seen it advertised before in the paper, but always figured Aiden was too young to go to those. However, when we saw that there were lots of little ones around his age participating, we decided it might be fun to give it a try!

All set with his hammer and goggles!

Daddy teaching Aiden how to sand his piece of wood.

Hammering!! The BEST part! It was such a joy for me to watch Carl showing Aiden how work with his hands! I'm sure the boys will come back often to build more things together!

Watching daddy!

More hammering!

We were really impressed by the program they run! Everything was free and on your first time they give the kids cute little aprons which they can bring along to future workshops (and are also great for at home art projects or baking!). They also gave Aiden a little goody bag filled with all sorts of activities. Such fun!

We had such a wonderful trip!  As always, it is such a joy to get together with Carl's family. I just love being with them. I think the thing that I love the most is how so many travel far every year, or every other year, just to be together. We never have a crazy agenda, it is always just to spend lots of time being with each other and having a great time talking or playing games and usually one outing to somewhere in Springfield. It was also very special to see how much more Aiden bonded with his Mamaw and his Aunt Jenny this time. He loves them so much! It truly is such a blessing to have married into Carl's family and I pray that someday my family will be able to share in these Thanksgivings too.

The roadtrip was loads of fun. I was a little hesitant at the thought of driving this year, but was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable it was. Aiden did great and I wasn't too uncomfortable at all, just a little stiff. We drove all the way through, through Oklahoma and Missouri, on the way there and it took us a little over 15 hours. On the way back we decided to try a different route and went down through Missouri, bordering Tennesee and through Arkansas. We split that up into 2 days and, although it was nice to see a different part of the country, I think next time we'll just stick to the original route unless we have something that we specifically want to see.

I have put up plenty of pictures, you can see them here if you would like.