6 Months

My babe is now 6 months old. And to celebrate he got his first taste of semi-solid fool.

Rice cereal with bananas was the food of choice and he couldn't gobble it down fast enough.

Cameron has been such a great baby. He has had a bit of a cold lately and hasn't slept very well but he is still in great spirits during the day.  He loves to watch his bothers play and starts to laugh when they jump up and down. He grabs at everything now and has to hold the spoon when I feed him. I can't wait for the next 6 months.

Merry Christmas to all

The Sunday before Christmas is traditionally the day of the Barker Family Christmas Party. I know we were missing some people even though it was a packed house. It has been held at the city hall ever since the numbers made it impossible to fit in Grandma Barkers house.  I was not around in those days but every year I hear it just isn't the same now that the party is at Willard city hall. Nonetheless, it was a blast and Darren was the only one injured the whole evening.

Pretty much the whole Barker clan

Cordon and Santa

Christmas Eve (who's been naughty and who's been nice?)

Holiday Spirit

It was an unexpected houseful.  I have to give it up to Debbie for housing 22 people(9 of which were unexpected) overnight on Christmas eve without even breaking a sweat.  Becky and Aaron drove in from Nebraska and surprised everyone and since our flight was cancelled it resulted in a Christmas with the entire family. 12 adults. 10 kids and babies and 1 moose. All together for a Very Merry Christmas.

I'll be where? for Christmas

So Lance and I had plans to take our family back to Oregon to celebrate Christmas with Grammy and Grandpa and Sara and Mary this year. Mother Nature had other ideas.  We knew all the flights had been cancelled arriving in Portland yesterday but we were still holding on to hope that we would prevail.  At 5 am when I checked the SW airlines site it said our  8:30 flight was "on time." At 8 am it was still on time.  At 8:30 it was delayed and at 9:30 it was cancelled. Im just glad we were on a cancelled flight and not on one that was rerouted to Oakland or Reno and stuck there for however long.  Anyway, we are very sad not to be with family in Oregon but have since heard that the power is out there and they are pretty much stuck in the house until this wintery storm warms up a bit. I wish you guys luck and hopefully your pantry is stocked! Good Luck with Christmas dinner.  Oh yeah, and to top things off, Mom, your Christmas present was confiscated by security at the airport.  

Here are a couple pics of what my parents and sisters are dealing with in Oregon.  We could've made one heck of a snowman.

My parents front deck and patio furniture. That tree is not supposed to be there.

My sis's car. Yeah she's not going anywhere for a while.

funny times cont'd (and a little bit disgusting)

We were all in the van car and Darren kept touching Cameron. Since Cameron's seat faces backward I couldn't tell what he was doing and Darren had a guilty smile.

Me:" Darren what are you doing?"

Darren:" I'm eating Cameron's boogers"

We just picked up my mom from the Airport to spend the weekend with us. We had just pulled out and Darren wanted to share some of his knowledge he has gained about healthy eating.

Darren: "Grammy, Cheerios make your poop soft!!"

Bring on Christmas!!

Christmas spirit has hit our house in a big way this year.  The excitement is contagious when you have a three year old in the house that loves everything about the season.  We put our tree up the day after Thanksgiving (thanks to the advice from natalie) and ever since then it has been nonstop talk about Christmas.  Darren certainly is obsessed with what toy Santa will bring him but he also loves everything else we have been doing to celebrate.  Lance has all his ornaments from every year of his childhood and Darren wanted to know how old Lance was when he got each ornament and what he was doing at that age. Im surprised that Darren's attention span lasted through all the ornaments but he loved decorating the tree.  He has also watched Mickey's Christmas at least once a day and wants to send Santa a letter everyday.

I have talked to Darren about the true meaning of Christmas and surprisingly he loves talking about Jesus being born in bethlehem and his mother is Mary. He helped me set up my new Nativity and we talked about the first Christmas. When I told him that the wise men brought him presents he got stuck on that and insisted that they brought the baby Jesus toys and keeps asking what toys he got.

Funny times

Here are just a few examples of the funny things that come out of Darren's mouth.

(at the dinner table talking to me)

Yummmmmmm. this tastes just like food.

Me:  where does Santa live?

Darren: At the North Dakota

(Darren picking his nose and eating it)

Me: Darren, thats gross!

Darren: No, I like it.

Me : What does that taste like?

Darren:  Strawberry/banana pie.

I'm calling my shot

So I'm just settling down for my pregame BM (what can I say I don't handle pressure well).  Decided I'd go out on a limb and post my thoughts on the game that is starting in 2 hours 16 minutes.  I'm picking BYU 34-31.  Some of you know the significance of that score....for those that don't you wouldn't understand anyway.

I'm predicting that BYU comes out with a chip on their shoulder that we haven't seen since UCLA.  The defense will have to come to play in order to win.  If they don't we lose big.  I don't think.  I think we move the ball pretty well on their D.  If Pitta is not above 90% it will be harder.  Offense will need to play well to make up for deficiencies on D.  It all comes down to us stopping them a few times, Brian Johnson being Brian Johnson and stopping them a few times and Ludwig being Ludwig and stopping them a couple times.  

I like that we are underdogs and all the pressure is on them.  I don't like that Utah always seems to play above themselves when they play us.  

So here's to my mom's first live BYU game ends up with a W.  If not we can hope Utah plays a good team in their bowl for once and then we can stop hearing about the bowl winning streak, earned against teams that no one cares about.

Halloween Tradition

2007

2006

Halloween 2008

Ma and Pa Barker really know how to host a party!!  Yummy food, fun games, great costumes!

Bryson and Kristy looked great in there costumes but they stole the show when they took them off and ran around in their underwear all night.  Bryson will fit right in with Lance.
Another great year of costumes.  Here is a little game for all you blog readers out there.

Where in the world is Matt Nielson?  Try to pick him out in each group shot.

Update

This picture cracks me up because they are looking so precious here that I almost forget what a horrible experience that was to get their picture taken.

Darren:

Is obsessed with Christmas.  Every morning he asks if it is Christmas time yet. He knows that this year we are going to Oregon and he cannot wait.  He reads his Target toy catalog everyday.  He loves preschool even though each day we go we have to play the same game. Darren says "I don't want to go to preschool." I say, "Ok, you can stay home." then he says in a panic. "no, no I do, I do want to go to preschool."  I don't get it but we do that same thing each time. Darren is very into healthy foods right now.  He wants to know if something is healthy and what it has in it to make it healthy.  Darren does not like to eat sugary foods in front of Lance.  He gets a dum dum sucker each day at preschool and will stay in the car until it is gone because he does not want his daddy to see him eat sugar. 
Cordon:

Dear sweet Cordon. Do not ever cross him. Or take his toy. Or say hello.  Well maybe, you could say hello but it is a gamble at the response you will get.   There is an old poem that goes,

There was a little girl

who had a little curl

right in the middle of her forehead

And when she was good

she was very very good

but when she was bad

she was horrid.

Cordon is the boy version of this poem.  

If you don't know Cordon you would think he was a spoiled, undisciplined child. However, he is a very sweet, endearing little boy who just has a little bit of an anger management problem.

He has just started a Little Gym class and LOVES it. It is so nice to see him so excited about something. He literally runs the entire hours we are there.  Cordon had his 2 year well child exam a couple months ago and he is 4 in. taller  and 5 lbs. heavier than Darren was at that age. I hate to compare but WOW!

My little angel baby is growing so fast.  This is a picture of his first attempt sitting up.  He is not really that close to being able to do it but I think he is very tired of laying down all day long.  He is grabbing at everything and rolling over like crazy. He even rolled off Darren's bed yesterday. Sorry, baby, I won't put you there anymore.  He is a great baby and very patient with his brothers especially Cordon who is obsessed with burrowing? into him.

Halloween 2008

Trick or treating. Sounds easy enough.  Unless you are Darren and Cordon.  First of all I thought that Candy was the highlight of the whole experience.  Nope.  They were all about the doorbells.  It started with the first house, Darren got to the doorbell first so he got to ring it.

From then on it was all out war at each house.  I am so sorry to those that answered the door to which Cordon did not ring the bell.  After the door was answered my indecisive little Darren took forever to pick out his treat ( he should not be given options).  My little Cordon knows exactly what he wants, picks it out but then has to sit down and eat it before we can go on to the next house.  Needless to say the 10 houses we went to took us about 45 min.  And yes, Lance was working so I was the ringmaster in that circus.  The absolute highlight of the evening for both of them was actually handing out the candy.  Darren was sooo excited to do this and if their was a lull in the action he would take his bowl of candy and chase down the trick or treaters on the sidewalk. We ran out of Candy early because Cordon would get upset ( irate actually) if the trick or treaters would take a candy out of Darren's bowl and not his. So most kids (and some grown ups? really?) got more because Cordon would unleash his wrath on any one who rejected his bowl for Darren's.  All in all it was fun and we still had the Barker Halloween Party to look foward to. Stay tuned for those pics coming soon.

Storebought costumes are lame

So Darren had his preschool Halloween party today. Katie told me one of the kids was wearing a "Cars" costume. My first thought was that I'm glad my kid isn't wearing some lame mass produced costume. My second was how awesome my wife is. I am the biggest proponent of the homemade costume and the homemade birthday cake. The problem is I have no skills. So I basically do absolutely nothing to see that my kids get these crucial components of childhood...Unless you count keeping Katie company while I sleep next to her as she cuts out the costumes in bed at night. After the kids go to bed all I want to do is catch up on some cougarboard and go to bed. Not Katie. She cuts and sews and glues and comes up with 2 time winners of the best costume at the Barker family Halloween party. If you count just our family's votes we have won every year we have attended. So here's to you Katie. Master of the felt and feathers. I love you for your creativeness. I love you for your sacrifice. I love that you had never touched a sewing machine before having kids and now you make costumes fit for our children.
Of course I can't show a picture of this year's costume because the party isn't until next week. We don't want our competition to know what they are up against. By the way...as I write this from bed, where is Katie? She is in the kitchen frosting a cake for some ungrateful girl's baby shower! You know who you are so you darn well better love this cake!
By the way...those of you who do buy your costumes off the rack at Target...it's ok that you don't love your children. I'm sure they'll forgive you after they've been able to talk through their hurt with a qualified professional years from now. ( i might even suggest my brother in law).

We made our decision!

Well after 2 weeks of twists and turns and pondering and praying we have decided to start my career in Utah.  For those of you not aware of the decision I'll fill you in.  We had an offer from a clinic in West Linn, Oregon and an offer from a clinic in my hometown.  The doctors in West Linn are not just any doctors.  They are the ones who inspired me to do family medicine, when I had always thought I wanted to be a surgeon.  Basically saved me from a life of misery.  The clinic has got to be one of the best in the country.  The doctors are knowledgeable, caring, and fun.  The clinic staff are all very friendly and hard working and then, of course, it is in West Linn which is a great town.  I spent a week with them in September, using it as an opportunity to go the BYU-UW game.  Plus I wanted to thank them for their offer and tell them "no" in person.  Well, as happens every time I stop by, they convinced me that I needed to give up my lifelong dream of raising my family near the farm that I love so much.  The first day in West Linn I was literally in tears all day because I knew it was too good to pass up and I saw my dream crumbling before my eyes.  I talked quite a bit to my dad and by the time we left Oregon I was planning on coming back next year to start my practice as an Oregonian.  I was excited about this for the first 2 weeks after getting home.  Then Katie surprised the heck out of me.  She really wanted to go back to Oregon but she thought overall it would be better for the boys to raise them on the farm.  How many 1st graders can have a regular job and regularly contribute to their savings account?  It took me 2 more weeks to come around to that line of thinking, but in the end I realized Katie was right (1st time ever by the way).  It was crazy because as of a week ago I really had no idea what I was going to do.  

I always tell Katie that every good attribute I may have, I learned from the farm.  Not many people get to know the joy of putting in a 13 hour day and then coming home to Family Home Evening and lo and behold we get to go windrow as a family!  Those are priceless memories.  I felt the fulfillment of coming home in late September and the corn is cut, the fruit is all picked, and you know you have worked hard over the year to make it happen.  I know what it is like for your nostrils to freeze together at 5 am when you are walking over to the barn.  I also know what it is like to feel the spirit at 5 am when everything is quiet and it is just you, your dad, your grandpa and the cows.  The same goes for walking home after milking on a crisp winter's eve.  I learned about delayed gratification when we had to milk the cows before going into the living room on Christmas morning.  I got to spend more time in a summer with my dad and grandpa than most kids get to spend with their parents in a lifetime.  I never knew what it was like to be "bored" during the summer.  I didn't have to walk around the neighborhood at 13 asking if I could clean out people's garbage cans for money(not that there is anything wrong with that).  I got to make banana milkshakes with the hundreds of perfectly good bananas we would find in the grocery store dumpsters on Sunday mornings when grandpa and I went dumpster diving for boxes to put our fruit in.  That's not to mention all the free grapes we got by the same method.  

I could go on and on and on and I finally realized that while I may someday regret the decision of not working in an incredible clinic, I would never regret giving our kids the best chance at success in this crazy world we now live in.  It is sad to think that I won't ever have the CEO of major sportswear companies as my patients.  Not to mention not being able to see Katie's family as much.  Some of you may consider not seeing in-laws as a definite positive but I enjoy visiting Katie's family as much as my own so that is actually a negative for me.  

So there it is.  Our last month in a nutshell.  The other bright spot is that we are closer to a 3000 sq foot house in Brigham City than in West Linn.  I think it was when Katie was in the throes of pregnancy with Darren that I jokingly promised her 1000 square feet per child she bore.  Well Katie has muscled through 3 pregnancies despite absolutely hating pregnancy and basically throwing up the whole 9 months and now her investment (me) may finally bear some fruit.
We will miss the Sutherlands. Darren and Cordon will forever be asking when we are going to visit grammy and grampa and sara and mary and paul. We will miss being able to reinstitute trading dinners with our friends in Portland. However we will enjoy having cousins 5 minutes away. Weenie roasts in the spring. Our neighborhood also being our ward. And last but not least...my kids learning their way around an udder!

comfort food

This was the first morning I woke up and didn't want to get out of my warm bed into our chilly room.  Fall is officially here. In fact it almost felt like winter.  However, I drug myself out of bedput on my thick fuzzy socks and my thick chenille robe and walked into the kitchen.  Today I made fresh blueberry muffins and fluffy homemade waffles. (yes, Im a carb lover. Don't judge me)

 Some people love autumn for the colorful leaves, the nip in the air, football season, or the start of a new school year. Those things are wonderful yes but my favorite reason to ring in the fall season is the food. The down home, made from scratch, sit in your stomach for hours, comfort food. 

Yes each season has its own wonderful recipes. I have said my goodbyes to my summer favorites like; Spinach salad with strawberries and sliced almonds,  Grilled salmon with a squeeze of lemon and fresh steamed asparagus,  Ice cream sundaes as big as your head,  and yes ice cold lemonade sipped thru a twisty straw. 

Bring on Fall!! Im ready to feel full.  Homemade soup with rustic bread, Chicken pot pie with a crust so flakey it falls apart with moist cornbread warm enough to melt the honey butter, and of course a prime rib roast cooked so long it melts like butter in my mouth.  This is food that warms a person from the inside out. Oh and don't forget the hot apple cider in stemmed mug with a cinnamon stick. heaven!

I know I think about food more than the average person. Probably about 80% of my brain power in allotted to thinking about it. But i prefer to think that I just appreciate life's simple pleasures. 

Fall has however, come at an inopportune time this year. At the tail end of my baby weight. The dreaded last 10 lbs (ok 20 but Im trying to be realistic). I told myself I would lose 10lbs by Christmas but I don't know if there is just a slim chance of that or fat chance. We will see. If it happens I will post it for sure. If it doesn't I doubt you will hear of the subject again and don't bother asking because I will probably lie.

Well now I have started to ramble so i will end. Besides, there is a deep dish brownie recipe with my name on it. 

I don't like food, I love it!

and if I don't love it, I don't swallow.

-Antone Ego

Ratatouille

posted by katie

No rest for the weary

So after about a year of waiting for our backyard to be made into a beautiful, safe place for our kids to play I was finally able to send them out enjoy the Utah sunshine in our fully fenced backyard.  I have been thoroughly enjoying this new found freedom. Most of the 2 and 1/2 years we have lived here the back has been mostly thistle and rocks and we haven't been able to send the boys out there to play. So I have always had to go out and watch them in the front yard if they were to play outside. 

So the other day I sent them outside to play in the sand box which they love doing for hours and was going to enjoy some down time. After about 10 min. of peace and quiet I hear the doorbell ring and ring and ring.  Who the heck?  I go to the door to see who was trying to wake my napping baby and there is my three year old at the front door. I was confused because whenever I send them out to the back yard I always check to make sure the gate is locked so they can't get out.  I asked him how he got out and he said he climbed over. Yeah right. The fence is 6 feet tall. he is 3 foot nothing. so I checked the gate. Locked. Im looking around for loose boards. Nothing. I keep asking Darren to tell me how he got out. He keeps telling me he climbed. Finally, I said show me how you got out.  So we walk through the house to the backyard and he walks over to the fence and in about 10 seconds he is up the fence and jumps down 6 feet to the ground on the other side. I am mortified. There goes my freedom, my peace and quiet, and my peace of mind. Yet again I am reminded that I cannot turn my back for a second.  Darren has conquered every child safety lock or mechanism I have ever purchased. Child proofing is a joke in our house. As far as Darren is concerned where there is a will there is a way and it is only a matter of time before our next trip to the ER.

You were born to love me

Ever since lance and I have been dating everyone has told me how lucky I am to have him.

Duh, like I don't know that.  Lance has been wonderful since day one of our married life. And I, like Bronco Mendenhall, am constantly raising the bar and wanting him to always be better. However, he is constantly exceeding any desire, going beyond any expectation and rising above previous levels of perfection.  I am an ungrateful wife.  Well, outwardly that is.  I do not and have not let him know enough how amazing I think he is.

for instance, right now as I type this I am visiting my sister at a hotel in Midvale. Last night we ate at Cheesecake Factory (the lemon herb roasted chicken is sooooo good) I slept the entire night, this morning I woke up and went shopping, worked out at the gym, came back to the hotel and did some scrapbooking, enjoyed some peace and quiet.  When I called him to check in he said I should try and stay Another night.  the only thing that would make this better is if Lance was with me. 

So where is Lance.?He is spending his vacation day waking up at 5 am to feed Cameron, driving carpool to preschool, cleaning messes, and everything else that 3 young boys require. Do I deserve this special treatment. Of course not. But he does this for me because, well, he is Lance.

I love you, Lance. My heart over flows with gratitude because I know you were born to love me!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Fun on the four wheeler

Im not sure who had more fun, Grandpa or the boys. Grandpa, had a new toy ready for the boys when we got to Oregon two weeks ago.  A little gas powered four wheeler was the highlight of the trip. And after the two weeks were up I don't know who was more exhausted.

Darren was a little throttle happy. He only knows one speed and that is fast. So Grandpa got his excercise by running behind and pulling the rip cord to shut it off if Darren got to close to crashing. Thanks for the fun, Dad!!

What a great day!

Today will be a great day! Why? because last night I got more sleep than I have in the last year.  I am energized and can handle anything.  So bring on the messes, the toilet clogged with a whole role of toilet paper, the crying, the blowouts, anything, because it is going to be a good day! (whether I like it or not)

Here's an oldie but a goodie from our Oregon days.  This is what happens when you put juice in cup that has a fake cockroach in the bottom.  If you keep an eye on me you will notice that I about had a heart attack at the age of 28.

fun weekend

We spent thursday, friday and saturday up at the snowbird resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon for the UVFM Residency retreat.  Friday we spent the evening at the pool while Lance was in meetings.  Darren was fearless in the pool since he had on life vest and float ring.  Cordon still won't put more than his toes in the water since his near drowning down in Delta a few weeks ago.  Saturday was play day. We did the Alpine slides. Both the boys wanted to go with Lance but finally we persuaded Darren to come with me or he would have to be left behind.  We rode the tram to the mountain peak and got some great pictures.  The best part of the day for me was the 2 hours of peace and quiet I had back in the hotel room while Lance continued to play with Darren and Cordon.

This face makes those 9 months of agony all worth it.  Cameron is now smiling! He is so happy after he wakes up and has a full tummy. (Aren't we all). I haven't posted in a while but at his 2 week appt.  he had gained over a pound and grew and inch and a half.  He was 9lbs.8 oz. and was 22in.   Im not sure what he is now at 6 weeks but probably still smaller than the 

11lb. 10 oz. baby that lance just delivered a few days ago. WOW.

Cameron is getting more fussy lately esp. at night before he goes to sleep.  However, he is a great sleeper and has slept for more than 7 hours quite a few times.  For that reason alone he has been my favorite baby. I think he will start sleeping through the night before Cordon.

yeah or nay

So in honor of one of our patients I have changed my hairstyle. For some reason Katie isn't a fan. What does everyone think?

Happy Birthday Cordon

Classic Cordon

Cordon's Cake

Birthday Dinner with Cousins

Birthday Bowling

We even got Grandpa Fred to take a break and celebrate!

July 20, 2006

Cordons 1st Birthday

Today Cordon is 2!!!  He has been a handful these last two years but has also been one of my biggest joys. Here are my top reasons why I love Cordon soooooo much!

1. The way he asks for "panpakes" every morning

2. He doesn't just talk, he growls everything and always with an exclamation point!

3. He loves to give "big hugs" and say "I wuv you, mommy"

4. He is sooooo sweet to Cameron and is never rough with him

5.  He doesn't even try to get out of his crib yet

6. His sweet but mischievous smile

7. The way he pulls on his ears when he is looking for his next task

8.The unequaled way he can project his voice

9. He loves to cuddle

10. There are not just ten reasons that I love him. I could go on forever!