Christmas Highlights

I am going to copy both Anya and Brenda and list this year's Christmas highlights:

1- staying up late with Brooklynn watching tv

2- Sam playing in Gogo's bouncy house
3- Jessica and Ian coming over and their daughter Halle and my nephew Bastian becoming boyfriend/girlfriend (holding hands while walking down the stairs, throwing stuff over the balcony together, chasing one another in the yard). When it was time for Halle to go home, she asked Jessica, pointing to Bastian, "Can he come?"
4- Anya's slide show
5- Having my sister's and my kids together on Christmas eve

6- holding sweet little newborn Vaughn
7- Hearing Sam say, "Basjun!" (Bastian)
8- Sitting in between two of my all-time best friends and our babies during Relief Society
9- Brooklynn unexpectedly feeding me the water during Sacrament because my hands were busy feeding Mollie
10- Mollie having a 9-hour stretch of sleep one night
11- playing a very intense game of Jenga with my parents and Devin
12- going to the movies with Alli and Brooklynn

13- girls' night at Leigh Ann's with my favorite friends

14- watching old videos with Selena and Becky
15- watching the Barrys perform karoake versions of "Glee" songs
16- Going to lunch with my mom and Sam actually sitting and eating
17- having a safe drive home despite snowy conditions. God loves us :)


We are blessed beyond measure. Devin and I have the greatest, most generous families. It was a good Christmas.

Whitney, here is our family slide show. I'll still mail you a copy, but this is to hold you over until then.

Happy Birthday Whitney!

My dear little Whitney turned 23 yesterday. Usually we have a family party every December 28th to celebrate, but this year Whitney was 1500+ miles away in Atlanta. So Brad, it was all up to you buddy! Happy birthday to my favorite little sister!

Defacing Mollie

Sam has really been into coloring with markers lately. He likes to color on our leftover moving boxes, although today he branched out and colored on something else.

Streetwalker

So the other day I was driving home from the grocery store when I noticed a lady standing on the streetcorner wearing almost no clothes. I had to do a double-take because I was so shocked at what she was (wasn't) wearing...we're in cold Flagstaff for goodness sake! As I got closer to her at the red light I saw that she was in tiny running shorts, so I thought, "Oh, ok. At least she's a jogger." Finally the light turned green. As I was making my left turn, I took one last look (I guess I was fascinated or something). I could not believe my eyes. This lady that I thought was a streetwalker was actually a MAN!

Mollie is 3 Months Old

I can't believe how sweet this little girl is. Mollie is such a joy. She smiles all the time. If you just look her way, she smiles. Despite getting poked in the stomach by you-know-who, she smiles (after she's done crying of course). She even smiles while wearing bibs that say "Ladies' Man," and "Tough Guy" (we refuse to buy girlie bibs because we have about a thousand perfectly good boyish ones).

Mollie spits-up just as much as Sam did, although hers don't projectile as far as his did.

She is sleeping as many as 8 hours straight some nights, while other nights she is up every 1 1/2 hours.

Mollie makes me so happy and I can't wait until she and Sam can play together.

Mollie, I'm so glad I had you.

Baby Panyko

Baby Panyko was born this afternoon! Becca and Adam (my sister and brother-in-law) waited until D-day to find out the sex, and lo and behold it's a boy! Adam Vaughn Panyko. They're calling him Vaughn. These pictures are for you, Whitney.


I am so impressed with how Becca looks just hours after her C-section. I always tell people how we King girls are not pretty pregnant, and she's not holding true to our ugly pact.

48 Down, 25 To Go

Yesterday I called my friend Julie from Surprise to get a recipe for this AMAZING cake that I can eat on the Maker's Diet! I made cupcakes and I loved them. Let's just say they are already gone.

Here's what is in them:
1 and 1/4 C whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. molasses
1/4 C cocoa
1/2 C unsweetened applesauce
1 Tsp baking soda
1/2 Tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 C water

You bake all of that together at 325 in a 9x9 pan for 25 minutes (or in my case 15 minutes for cupcakes)

for the frosting:

pecans (I used walnuts because they're cheaper)
raisins (I used half dates and half raisins)
milk
(I also added honey)

you put in equal parts of each ingredient and blend in the blender and spread over cooled cake/cupcakes


I am a sweets girl and these cupcakes made my day yesterday. I have been on the Maker's diet for 12 weeks now and have lost 48 lbs. I still have 25 to lose to be at my goal weight. The weight is coming off slowly, but at least it's coming off! I have been walking on the treadmill everyday very slooooooooooowly. My c-section incision has been giving me a lot of pain lately so I've been trying to take it easy.

It's not all just about getting skinny again. I feel good about myself when I eat good things. I hate having "food guilt." On this diet, I give myself my 2 cheats a week and there is no guilt involved! It's great. Go Maker's Diet!!!!

Stressful Sunday

Church for us is usually rough (thank you, Sam), but today was especially rough. We dealt with the normal loud-playing with his toys, the crawling under the pew in front of us, and the loud screams of, "NO!" when we try to get him to be reverent. It wasn't until Sam hit his head on the pew after stealing another kids' colored pencils that it got plain embarrassing. It's always fun to carry a screaming child out of the chapel while hundreds of eyes are watching you. Meanwhile, Mollie was working on a poo that resulted in 2 changed diapers during Sunday school.

Sam didn't make it though nursery, so Devin sat in there with him. According to Devin, Sam was the kid that got all the other kids riled up by running around in cirlces, screaming, until all the other kids were doing the same.

The icing on the cake? My phone went off in Relief Society.

The Worst Picture of Me. Ever.

So usually when a bad picture is taken of you, you press "delete" immediately, right? Well this one is so bad, so awful, that it made me laugh for a good minute. So I had to share. The best part is I didn't even know I was getting myself in the picture. I just thought it was of Sam. So this is what I look like when I take pictures I guess.

Sweet-as-Sugar Mollie

I'm a little obsessed with Mollie.

She is the sweetest, most smiley baby!

Every morning she showers me with nonstop smiles.

The only time she gets upset is when she wants her food. I don't blame her on that one. I really don't. Food is important to a girl!

You really can love your 2nd child as much as your first. What a relief!

Sam's 2 Year Video

Sam has been 2 for almost a month now, and I am finally done with his video.

I love Sam so much. He is so special. Even though he's officially in the "terrible two's" (just today he refused to stop wiping boogers on the couch), he still lights up my life! Being his mom makes me want to have 50 million more kids, just because raising him has been so great.

The Status of things

Here is a little update of our lives here in Flagstaff.

Devin and I spend our days here in our apartment taking care of Sam and Mollie. Devin is still searching for a job. A carpet cleaning business may be in the works here soon (possibly), but in the meantime we are broke. Now please understand that when I say we are broke I am not trying to get sympathy or handouts. Seriously. I am documenting this time in our lives and being completely honest about it. We just payed December's rent, and as for January's? Who knows where that will come from! We are nervous about money but we also know that we are in God's hands. Really and truly we believe and trust in that. Now with that said, we are not expecting to just sit around and wait for God to provide. We know we have to take matters into our own hands and do all that we can do. So, I am feeling the strong need to contribute.

I have had the thought lately that maybe I should try and watch children during the day at our apartment to help supplement our income. Plus, I know Sam would love a playmate (assuming the kids would be playing age). After talking with my dear friend Leigh Ann on Friday, I am feeling even more strongly that maybe I should do this. Leigh Ann watches kids during the day (along with her own 2), and is taking 12 credit hours online! That girl amazes me. If she can do it, I can do it. Of course the thought of this hurts my heart a little bit. Sam and Mollie are my little sweetlings, and just the thought of having my attention divided from them gives me crying feelings. So, I am still a little bit divided as to what to do. All I know is that I want to help out my little family in any way that I can.

Does anyone have ways they make extra income from home? What do you do now or what did you do when your kids were younger?


Leigh Ann and me. I'm not sure why I look like an 80-year-old-woman in this picture. I'm going to blame it on sleep deprivation thanks to Mollie.

Jealous Christmas

I entered a video into the "Guaranteed White Christmas" video contest. I was going to wait and upload this until Dec. 5, which is the contest deadline, but I decided to just go ahead and show it.

Special thanks to my mom, Brenda, Brooklynn and John for being in the video! And as always, thanks to my sweet Debbie who almost always is willing to be goofy in videos with me, even if it makes him grumpy :)

-3

That's what the low was in Flagstaff this morning.

When Sam woke up, his lips were blue. Seriously. We put him in 2 layers of footed pajamas and socks because he just won't stay under a blanket during the night. Poor little guy.

I put Mollie in the sun so she would stay warm.


This afternoon we got Sam some winter clothes (thank you Grandma Barry!) so he could actually enjoy the cold. I think I enjoyed putting him in all the snow clothes much more than he enjoyed wearing them. Sam even fell down a few times out in the snow and couldn't get up on his own because of the puffiness of his outfit.

Our Sunday Morning

Sam's New Hair

Mindy cut Sam's hair off today. Now he really looks like a little boy!

Mollie is 2 months old

Sweet Mollie turned 2 months old on Saturday. She is such a darling little baby. She never cries unless she needs something (which, let's face it, is a lot...she's a baby) or unless she's being pummeled by Sam (which is also a lot). She also is still waking up in the night about every 1.5 hours. It's tough but she's worth it. I love her!

Saying Goodbye to Dixie

3 weeks ago we had to say goodbye to Dixie.

I am not a dog person. But, in the spring of 2007 I started shopping around for dogs. At the time, Devin and I were engaged, and I knew the minute we got married he wanted to get a dog. So, I figured that if I was going to have to live with a dog, it might as well be one I picked out. So, I headed to the Flagstaff mall (I was attending NAU), and found Dixie at the pet store. Yes, the pet store. I saw Dixie there through one of the little windows, then went home. The next few days, I couldn't stop thinking about that dog. I was perplexed as to why I couldn't get her off of my mind since dogs aren't my favorite things. That next weekend Devin came up from Phoenix for a visit, and I took him to meet the little puppy I couldn't stop thinking about. We asked the salesgirl to let us play with her, and we did so in one of the rooms for well over an hour. We were in love.

Remember how I said we got Dixie at a pet store? Dogs are very very overpriced there, but I didn't care. I honestly felt some tugging from deep inside my spirit telling me that I had to get this dog. So, I took out a loan and took her home a few days later.



Dixie was our child. In our first married months, Devin and I took her to the dog park nightly (nerdy, I know). I took her on 4-mile walks every morning. Devin and I used to compete over who Dixie would choose to sit with when we would watch movies.

Then when we had Sam, Dixie became his best bud. She would let him do anything to her while she just layed there patiently.

When we decided that we would move up here for Devin to attend school, and we found an apartment to live in, we were devastated when we found out they don't allow dogs. So began the search to find Dixie a new home. For weeks we tried to figure out some way that one of our family members could take her so we could take her back at the end of our 4 years in college. Unfortunately this plan didn't work out, so we had to search elsewhere. A sweet family from church ended up taking her, and from what we hear she his loving life, even sleeping in the bed with one of the daughters. How rude of Dixie. I wanted her to mope around for at least a few days.

Devin and Dixie's last picture before taking her to her new owners

I still don't know why I had the spiritual prompting to get Dixie. I was convinced that one day she would save us from drowning in a river or something, but nothing miraculous like that ever happened. Maybe Dixie's whole purpose was to show me that some dogs are worth loving. Just not cocker spaniels.

We're Here, and We're Freezing!

The Barrys are now residents of Flagstaff! We finally set up our computer today. I have so much to blog, including Sam's 2nd year video (I guess I should make it first), Mollie's 2 month video (Happy Birthday TODAY Mollie!), and so much more. In the meantime let it suffice that we are cold and we are expecting our first snow TONIGHT!!!

My Mom's 52nd

Happy Halloween

Yesterday Mollie celebrated her first Halloween. She had a ball. Actually she could have cared less (obviously).
I tried to get pictures of Sam and Mollie in their Halloween shirts...yeah didn't quite work out that great.




I wasn't sure if I was going to let Sam go trick-or-treating since Halloween fell on a Sunday this year, but after praying about it I felt ok about letting him go. He had a blast and loved saying "trick or treat!" and always said "thank-you" after being handed candy. Thank goodness John and Brenda keep costumes in their playroom, because this Tigger costume looked perfect on Sam.

Welcome to the Family

This morning I heard Sam over the monitor calling for someone to come rescue him from his crib. He said as follows, "Daddy!! Mommy!! Baby!!!"

This made me so happy! He truly feels that "the baby" is a part of our family. Welcome, sweet Mollie.

Here are some pictures of our girl smiling this morning (5 weeks old).

Mollie is One Month Old!

Yesterday was Mollie's 1 month birthday. I made her a video.



Devin was not exactly thrilled to be interviewed for this video last night...

Mollie's First Photoshoot

As mentioned in my previous post, Mollie had her pictures taken by Shauna Richardson when she was 11 days old. I know what you're thinking, and no, Selena and I did not break up. Sadly Selena lives in Utah and was unable to do them, so I turned to someone I could trust to do a great job. Here are some of my favorite ones!









I am in love with these pictures and with my little Mollie! Thanks for taking them, Shauna, and thanks again for helping me rescue my children!

Yesterday's Scare

Yesterday I was locked out of the house for over 20 minutes while my two screaming children were inside.

Mollie got her pictures taken two weeks ago by my friend Shauna, who came by yesterday to drop off the much anticipated CD of images. When I answered the door crazy Dixie ran out and jumped on Shauna, so I quickly corralled her back inside and closed the door. The second the door closed, I heard a little "click," and lo and behold, Sam had locked me out.

After laughing about it for about a minute and a half, then unsuccessfully trying to explain to Sam how to unlock the door, panic started to set in. I called Devin from Shauna's phone, but he was 45 minutes away. I called our realtor to see if there was anyone in the area who could come unlock our door via the lockbox (they no longer have lock box codes...you have to have a special key to unlock it), but she couldn't think of anyone. She offered to come and unlock it herself, but she was at least a half hour away.

I was mostly worried about Mollie, because of Sam's roughness with her lately. I made sure I kept Sam by the door, who was screaming his head off, not understanding why I wasn't coming back inside. In the meantime Devin had called a locksmith and his brother Adam to see if they could come to our rescue, but I couldn't stand the thought of just sitting there and waiting. After saying a short prayer, Shauna and I started looking around for something to break a window.

Right before we were about to seriously decide which window to break, I decided to see if I could pry off the doorknob by bending the lockbox. Holy cow it actually worked. It was a good thing Shauna was there with me, though, because I was just looking at the broken-off doorknob and wondering what good that did me, when she pointed out that now the inside doorknob had nothing keeping it in tact, so she used the broken part of the doorknob to push out the other part of the doorknob (confused?).

The instant I opened the door poor Sam lunged at my legs and wouldn't let go. Mollie was in her bouncing chair in our bedroom and gave me a dirty look as I went to pick her up. Adam arrived just after we had gotten the door open, and after saying goodbye to he and Shauna, I knelt with my babies and said a prayer of thanks.

Just the night before Devin and I had watched a video by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in which he said of the job of being a mother, "heaven itself sends angels to watch over you and your little ones." I heard that quote in my head as soon as this scary event was over, and I knew that it was true.


What's left of our front doorknob