So...Much...Stuff...

In the last post I mentioned we added another little person...

This is that little person!!

Meet Barbara Lee Baun!

As of this picture she is 7 months old - yes, I realize that means I am WAYYYY behind.

I have 4 kids and we moved 600 miles - I think I get a free pass on this one.

So, she was born on January 31, 2014 - weighing in at an impressive 8 pounds, 12 ounces and either 19 or 19-1/2 inches (I'd have to go look at official paperwork to verify, and that requires more effort than I'm willing to put in at this moment). She was perfectly healthy, absolutely gorgeous with her red hair and BIG eyes. The first 2 months or so were rough, she had something against sleeping on her own so she had to sleep with me. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was nursing? I have no idea, I just know it was rough, really rough. I was exhausted, and she is the first baby I have ever been able to actually really breastfeed, so I am the ONLY one that can quench her thirst - which means that Greg couldn't get up and feed her if I was sick (which did happen - the sickest I'd ever been in my life - and I had to still nurse, it wasn't a shining moment), or if I was tired, or busy. I am the only one, and I think she knew it and took advantage. Luckily, she adjusted and right before we moved she graciously allowed me to let her sleep in her own space - just in time for us to have to start packing and move.

Whenever you get ready to have a baby, you start to think about how that little spirit is going to fit in to your life/family/home...and you start wondering if they will, will they fill that spot that was specially selected for them before they were even conceived? We always wonder how our kids are going to fit in to our family, and then they always find their special spot and we marvel at the divine plan our Heavenly Father has created and that He does in fact know each of His children and that he is watching over them. Barbara fit right in to our family, and has become initiated as one of us.  She and Freddie share a room and he is just in love with her. I can't even explain that special bond those two have. He can make her laugh harder than anyone else, and can make her smile when none of us can. He just wants to love her and hug her and possibly even eat her little toes.

Each of our kids has a special bond with the others, some closer than others.  Karyl and Nicole are buddies, and Freddie was kind of the third wheel once Nicole came around and was old enough to want to play Barbies and play dress-up.  Barbara has given him a purpose in this family and he just makes an amazing older brother. He will protect all his sisters, but he will have a special place for Barbara. 

So, there's another update - we had a baby and she's amazing and gorgeous and perfect in every way.

The other 3 are still amazing, although Freddie is ALL BOY and might send me to an early grave with what he tries on his bikes and scooters (yes, I said those plural because since moving here and having room to play he has destroyed a scooter and a bike because he just rides hard). Nicole has the attitude of a 16 year old girl, and I can only hope that it reverses as she gets older, because she is a strong willed little girl who forgets she is only 3 and that she doesn't get to make the rules yet. Karyl is just Karyl - dramatic and girly, independent and fierce. I don't know that I can afford to send her to law school because she has the makings of being an amazing lawyer with her negotiating skills.

Next update - we've moved, out of California - and sold and bought a house - and are still partially living from boxes and still can't find half the stuff we used back in CA, but we're managing and will get organized one day....maybe before the kids head to college.