Bless Her Heart!

Yesterday Taylor was blessed at church. I just love this little baby so much. She is 10 weeks old and so so sweet. Devin blessed her with health and that she will realize how much she is loved by our Heavenly Father and by her family.

Sometimes my blog posts have told about the rough patches our little family is going through. I was just thinking today as I was doing the dishes, that currently, life is good. We are healthy and happy. We know where to turn to for help. Our kids are so stinking precious. Yes, Sam still has violent outbursts, Mollie refuses to nap, and thanks to Taylor I am sleep deprived, but we are blessed. Devin is Mr. Motivation lately and is training for a marathon in addition to taking a wood-working class. I am loving this side of him. He is such a help to me as I am trying to get the hang of this 3 kid thing. I love being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It truly is the happiest way to live.

And now for pictures of my precious girl.

My 27th year

Tomorrow I turn 28.

I spent the majority of my 27th year grumpy and pregnant. Looking back, I remember vomiting through Christmas, sleeping through the spring, and eating through the summer. I do not love being pregnant but I sure am grateful that my body is able to carry babies. I love Taylor and I am so happy I got to have her in the 27th year of my life!

In my 27th year we became a family of 5. This is weird to me because this is how big my family was growing up. This is how big my big sister's family is. Now, I am the grown-up one with the 3 kids. It is very stressful at times and I am still in the zombie phase of motherhood, what with Taylor waking up every few hours, but I am slowly getting used to it.

In my 28th year I want to try and live in the present. I want to cherish my husband more and focus on all he does for me and the kids. I want to have meaningful moments with each of my children each day. I want to have meaningful scripture study and feel the Holy Spirit influencing my life.

I am a blessed girl (I guess I should say woman, I will be 28 tomorrow). I have a knowledge of the restored gospel and the priesthood in my home. My children are stinking cute and more importantly the sweetest things ever (even if one of them is only sweet to me when he's sleeping. I'm not mentioning any names but it rhymes with Ham).

Here's to 28!

Taylor Sue, the highlight of the year

Sleepy T.

Taylor is 2 weeks old. I still don't know her very well because she is always asleep! I am not complaining. I am grateful that she is easing me into life with 3 kids and isn't a needy newborn. I'm just taken aback by how low-maintenance she is! What a blessing.

Last night I went on my first grocery trip since having the baby. Have you been to the new store, Winco? Um, I love this store. It is like Costco in a smaller version. Produce prices are amazing and they have big bulk sizes that other stores don't carry. Plus their bulk food section is enourmous. What I wasn't impressed with was that you have to bag your own groceries. Had I known this I may have rethought the amount of groceries I bought. I am only 2 weeks out from my c-section, and I was struggling to bag my groceries in a timely manner. The line was long and I could tell the cashier was getting impatient with me, waiting for me to be on my way and clear up her line. Finally I looked at her and the other people standing in line and I said, "Sorry, I'm slow. I just had a baby and this is my first outing!" Boy did the attitude in that line change. People went from impatient to sweet and interested. They wanted to know all about the baby. "Boy or girl?" "Is this your first?" "Oh you poor thing." "Get some rest!" I might have to pull the just-had-a-baby card more often.

While I was shopping I saw a sign in the store that reminded me of Taylor. I don't remember what it said but it gave me an ache I missed her so bad. Isn't it funny how you can get so attached so fast?

Kids are the best.

It Starts.

Today Mollie went to time-out for the first time.

Back when Mollie was born, Sam turned from sweet toddler to Terrible Twos almost immediately. I don't' know if it's the arrival of a new sibling or simply the age that causes my sweetlings to turn from nice to naughty. Whatever the cause, it has begun with our Mollie.

Week One.

Taylor Sue Barry was born last Friday, July 20 at 12:57 p.m. She is my smallest baby weighing in at 7 lbs. 15 oz and 20 1/2" long.

So far she is a sleepy, sleepy baby, which I am loving! She does of course have some wakeful time around 2 in the morning, but other than that she is content to eat and sleep. Which again, I am loving.


Sam and Mollie are loving their new sister and are very interested in her. Like scary interested. They have both almost killed her at least once (Sam by jumping off the couch and almost landing on her, Mollie by bringing her a 3 lb. dumbbell and laying it on her stomach).

I am recovering well from C-section #3. The pain from the incision does not bother me at all. I am dealing with mastitis again, and I can't seem to kick it. I am not a fan of the boob part of having babies. It's basically awful.


Taylor looks so much like Devin it is funny. When I first saw her I thought, "Wow, she looks like me!" Then, when she was brought to me in the recovery room and I saw her dark hair, nose, and skin tone, I changed my mind. She is definitely a Barry baby!

We are blessed to have another beautiful and healthy baby and for all the help we've gotten from family and friends.

Here's to 3 kids!

4 Days.

My C-section is scheduled for Friday. I don't think it has hit me yet that in 4 days I'm going to have another child. I am just so stinking overjoyed at the thought of not being pregnant anymore that I kind of forget about the baby part. This pregnancy has been the toughest, but I know it will all be worth it.

Doesn't it look like my belly is about to fall off? I caught a glimpse of my shadow the other day and had to do a double-take.

Happy Birthday, Dev!

Yesterday Devin turned 28. A few years ago a psychic friend of Brenda's (my MIL) said that Devin will be successful at age 28. When she said this I was pregnant with Sam. She also predicted that Sam would be a girl. You win some you lose some I guess. I'd put money on the successful prediction though, because in my view he already is. Happy birthday, Deb!


Today I made the kids all-natural cookies. They love to eat the dough. Nothing makes me happier than to see them enjoying something that is actually good for them. My kids love treats, and so does their dad. Lets just say it is a constant battle in our house. I'm the mean mommy who says no and Devin is the fun dad who says yes. Sam and Mollie don't seem to notice that these eggless, sugarless, butter-less cookies aren't real cookies. It kind of makes my day.All the cookies have in them is dates, whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda, honey, peanut butter, vanilla, and oats.


I love these kids and I am so ready for #3 to make her appearance! We scheduled my C-section for July 20. T minus 43 days :)

Memorial Day and Baby Mama Drama

For Memorial Day this year we went out to breakfast. We went to The Place, which is a different location of another place, (also called The Place) that Devin and I fell in love with when we were courting in Flagstaff. As we were waiting for our table, I of course had to use the bathroom. I took Sam with me. We were making our way through the restaurant when I saw a man out of the corner of my eye reaching for me. I just thought, "Oh great," assuming it was unwanted affection for my pregnant belly. I stopped and made eye contact with the man. It took me a few seconds to realize it was non other than John Barry, my father-in-law. There at the table with him were Brenda and Brooklynn. We made it a party and got seated sooner and had company on our holiday breakfast. (For the record, John was just trying to get my attention. He's not the belly touching type- for that I am very grateful. I've had random men touch my pregnant belly before and it made me hate life).

After breakfast we headed home for nap time and then out to Mesa to our friends Ryan and Kara's house. Sam and Mollie loved the pool and I loved hanging out with Kara and two of her friends I had never met before. The two friends were also converts to the LDS church. It was fun to talk about the things that were hard for us to get used to in the Mormon way of life (i.e. not shopping on Sundays, wearing modest clothing, etc.). And I just love Kara more every time I see her. How can you not love someone who openly talks about SWASS?

Mollie looked so dang cute in her swimsuit and pigtails

Ryan had made everyone hamburgers at their get together. They looked so good but my stomach was feeling a little bit funny so I passed. When we got home that night my stomach was still feeling weird. Weird turned into sharp pains going from my stomach to my lower back. I went to bed hoping I would wake up feeling better.

At about 2 in the morning the sharp pains woke me up. Normally I would think of these pains as me maybe just needing to go poo or something (sorry but true). Then I remembered, "Oh yeah, I'm pregnant." When they started coming faster and nothing seemed to help I got a little bit nervous. At around 4 in the morning I woke Devin up to give me a priesthood blessing. The pain didn't seem to subside but I was able to go back to sleep.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, the pains were still coming and going. Devin stayed home from work so that I could take it easy. I left a message at my dr.'s office to let them know what was going on and to see what I should do. They said what I thought they would, telling me to drink as much water as possible and to go straight to the er if the pains are coming every 10 minutes. Devin and I started timing them. Some came after 15 minutes, some after 45 minutes, and some after 8 minutes. By 11:00 p.m. I hadn't had any pain for almost 3 hours, so I just went to bed.

When I woke up this morning and started making the kids breakfast, starting the laundry and so on, they started up again. Dangit. So I called Devin, he came home from work, and off to the ER I went.


After some tests and ultrasounds, I was told that all is well! Baby girl is healthy and strong, and I am not dilated whatsoever. This is very good news since I'm only 32 weeks as of tomorrow.

They told me my pain was most likely due to the heat and that I should be drinking a gallon of water per day. Holy cow.


I am so grateful that everything is ok and that God protected my sweet baby. I am grateful that I decided to go to the ER so that I can have peace of mind. I am grateful that my whole hospital visit only cost us $150. We are uninsured so I didn't know what to expect.


Speaking of being uninsured...

We got a letter in the mail today saying our application for AHCCCS was denied. This means that we will be paying for baby #3 out of pocket. I am really wishing right now that I didn't have to have C-sections.

I don't know how we're going to pay to have this baby, but I do know 2 things: 1) She's coming whether or not we have insurance, and 2) Heavenly Father will provide a way. He always has for us and he always will.

The Free Zoo and Whole Wheat Pizza

Devin worked on a tile job until the wee hours of the morning today. Knowing that he needed to sleep and that he couldn't do so if the kids were home (there is no keeping them quiet), I packed up the kids and left the house. I didn't know where to go or what to do, but I somehow ended up at Cabela's. My friend Tatum once coined this store as "The Free Zoo." If you have been there, you know that there are life-sized animals on display throughout the store. They are all dead, but my kids are little and didn't seem to care. Not only is it free to walk around and look at all the animals, but it is air conditioned! How heavenly on a day like today to do something inside.

Sam and Mollie seemed genuinely entertained. We were even able to leave with only 2 minor tragedies occurring; Mollie having a nasty diarrhea diaper and Sam losing his toy car.





For dinner tonight I made the best whole wheat pizza I have ever had. I got the recipe here. I was pretty impressed with myself. Even Sam ate it, and he's not even that big of a pizza fan.

30 Weeks

I have 2 months left in this pregnancy. 2 very hot months left. The countdown is on!

Not only am I thrilled to meet our newest Barry baby, I am thrilled to feel like the old Allison again. I'm excited to have the desire to play with my kids rather than sit them in front of a movie. I'm excited to want to go for walks and move my body! I am excited to stop crying. This pregnancy is an emotional one. It's a bit ridiculous. I know Devin is excited for the crying to end too.

I am still eating healthy, and I don't feel like I'm getting rapidly and uncontrollably huge as I felt with my first 2. I'm definitely in the chubby zone, but not in the obese zone yet. Speaking of obese, I recently watched the show, "Obese and Pregnant." It made me feel a lot better about my weight gain :)

Thanks to our tax return and credit card points I am now the proud owner of a new camera, so I'm more inspired to blog again.


I just love my sweet little kids.