Introducing Alexis Joy

We were so excited to welcome our sweet little girl to our family on March 9.

Here is the story of her birth (written by Aaron):

This is a story all about how...

The last 24 hours have been eventful for this Barth family.  We reported to AF hospital at 7 in the morning on March 9, 2012.  We had been assured by all that the second labor is so much easier than the first.  They asked a bunch of great questions and then the pitocin began to flow.  Contractions were coming and Rachel continued to progress.  It was slow going for a while.  We played cards and watched Gilmore Girls, Aaron played a game or two of Settlers.  4 in the afternoon rolled around and she was almost ready.  At 4:22 she started to push.  After pushing for an hour this little girl had not moved.  The doctor came in and was surprised and told her to try to push for another hour, but prepare for the possibility of a C-section.   This hour also passed and it was deemed she needed a c-section.  They prepped Rachel and Aaron got to put on some coveralls a mask and hair net.  In the operating room all went very smooth.  At 7:03 our little princess was born.  The first thing the nurse said was "wow, she is big."  The doctor commented that Rachel could have pushed another two hours and nothing would have changed.  They weighed her in at 9lbs 10oz.  She has a full head of hair (unlike her father).  I went with our angel to bathe and take vitals as Pam met up with Rachel.  About an hour and a half later Rachel and her new daughter were united at last.  After much discussion and ruling out names like Rachel Junior, this little girls name was decided.  She will be known as Alexis (probably called Lexi) Joy (short for her great grandma Joyce) Barth.  Rachel continues to recover and baby is doing great.  We can not wait for this little princess to sit on her throne as the queen of Barth-air.

This is one of Aaron's favorite pics, taken when I first got to really meet her about an hour or so after she was born (I only saw her for a quick minute in the operating room).  I was so happy to finally get to see her and hold her.

She met big brother Brigham the next day.

She also got to meet grandparents,

and great grandpa.

Brigham wasn't quite sure what to think about the hospital visits.  He reached out for Lexi and pointed out her nose and liked being close to her for about a minute...and then he pushed her away.  We are still working on the sibling bonding.

We loved all the time we had to cuddle with her in the hospital.

By Sunday afternoon her bilirubin numbers were sort of high and with Brigham's history of needing the lights, we decided to put her under the super powerful hospital lights for as much time as possible until we left Monday afternoon.

After three more trips to the hospital for the next three days, and some good time sleeping in the sun, we finally got her numbers to go down and we avoided having to do the lights at home.

Thank you to all those who came to visit in the hospital!  Thanks to my parents and Caleb and Becca for watching Brigham while we were in the hospital and many times since we have been home.  Thank you mom for keeping me company, doing laundry, driving me places, making dinner, cleaning house, and taking care of us since we came home.  

We are so in love with our little girl and are so blessed to have her in our family.

My Buddy

My buddy, my buddy, wherever I go, he goes.  My buddy, my buddy, my buddy and me.  (Does anyone else remember that great commercial for the My Buddy doll for boys?)  Well, it reminds me a bit of this little man.  We have gotten so used to spending our days together and I love having somebody that wants to follow me around and do everything I do.

I knew that the adjustment from one to two would be challenging and I really tried to appreciate the time that we had to spend together the last few weeks.  We enjoyed playing in the first real snow of the year.

We took some trips to the grocery store and discovered that Brigham loves to ride in the front and be the driver.  He had a smile on his face and "talked" excitedly for most of the trip.

Brigham found a replacement for his sippy cup of milk.

We enjoyed some good cousin time and trips to Costco.

I can't believe it has already been 18 months since this little man joined our family.  I love spending my days with him and watching him learn new things.  He is constantly making me laugh and smile.  We love him so much!

Home Sweet Home

During the month of January we had some work done on our house.  For those of you that live too far to visit in the near future, and are interested, here is how the projects turned out.  We finished our fireplace and mounted our TV above it.

BEFORE & AFTER

We had a seven foot tall crawl space that we rarely used because it was difficult to get into and to move stuff into.  To get down there, you had to lift a door in the floor of our closet then you had to climb down a wood ladder to a gravel floor.  Now we have stairs, cement floor, and lights down there so we can use it for storage space.

BEFORE

AFTER

Lastly, I finally "finished" Brigham's room...only 17 months after he was born.  It has been a work in progress, and I suppose it will be constantly changing, so never really finished.  But it has been painted (thanks to my brother and brother-in-law) and there are things hanging on all four walls, so it is a good start.  Here is the tour.

The north wall has the owl magnet board (thanks mom) that we made to hang pictures of Brigham with parents, grandparents, cousins, etc.

The northeast corner has one of his bookshelves and a cute plaque with a Dr. Seuss quote (designed by my talented cousin Laura).  This is probably Brigham's favorite spot in the room and where he typically heads first.

The southeast corner has the Pooh collection with stuffed animals, plaques, and a great Christopher Robin quote.

The south wall has a family photo (thanks Julia), a "you are my sunshine" canvas (thanks Caleb), and a birth announcement plaque (thanks Caleb & Becca) and Brigham's one year handprint.

Last is the west wall with a picture of Christ and and an ABC poster I made.

Thanks to everyone that has helped with the projects.  We've had a fun time transforming some of our home.  Maybe one day we will get around to decorating, organizing and hanging pictures in the rest of our house.

Work and Play

I have a new little helper that likes to help me with everything.  He enjoys sitting in the middle of all the laundry and moving things from one pile to another.  He likes to help with the grocery shopping and wants to have his own list and pen to cross things off.

A few days ago when I left the pantry door open he found the broom and decided to sweep up the kitchen.  This is an improvement over trying to use the little sweeper brush to brush his hair, which is what he has done in the past.

He loves to help in the kitchen and watch us cook.

He has also loved "helping" the workers that have been coming to our house.  He has been walking around with a tape measure and measuring things where they have been working.

When he isn't "working" around the house, he likes to show off his new skills including going up the stairs.  We are still working on the down part.

He enjoys listening to music, watching TV, and wearing dad's headphones.

He loves to eat.  He makes some of his happiest faces when he sees grapes, tomatoes, bananas, and green beans.  He will eat almost anything that isn't too spicy or sour.  This picture was taken at our favorite pizza place (the Pi) right after he picked up a bite of the pizza and he saw the big string of cheese hanging off it.  He was pretty excited about it.

We love going to visit our Bodell grandparents.  Brigham likes to play Peek-a-boo with great grandma,

and do stickers with great grandpa.

When he isn't working or playing, he LOVES going to bed.  We ask him now if he wants to go to bed, and most of the time he will start walking to the stairs by himself, point upstairs, and wait for us to open the gate and take him up.  I think his love of going to bed may come from his love of his pacifiers, which he only gets in bed and the car, but wherever it comes from, we are grateful for it.