Happy Valentines!

We had a good Valentines Day. I decided I wanted to do 7 days of Valentines and give my family a little valentine each day for 7 days leading up to Valentines. None of the gifts were big just a little treat or something to play with but the boys loved it and woke each morning with anticipation of what their valentine would be that day. On Valentines Day we had to go to our classes that are on Tuesday nights and then we came home to hang out with Daddy for a little bit before bed. For me for Valentines Day, Michael and the kids made a poster that said in turn for 7 days of valentines that I gave them they were going to give me 7 days of relaxation by cooking dinner and doing chores for the next week.

The boys playing with small etch a sketches they got for Valentines.

Avery really enjoying a marshmallow heart she got for Valentines!

Avery 11 months

Our Avery is rounding the corner toward her first birthday and I just can't  believe she is so big already!  This is our attempt at pig tails with her little bit of hair on the top of her head.  Avery says mama, dada and just the other day started saying Josh or her variation of it.  She also just started walking more, now she'll take 6 to 7 steps by herself before she falls and if she has something to hold on to she easily motors around.  Our Avery now loves food and easily eats more than either of the boys.  She evens yells at us when she runs out of bites to eat.  She sleeps a little bit better these days too.  She still wakes up once a night to drink a bottle but takes 2 naps during the day.  We love our little girl and love watching her learn and grow each day. 

Happy Birthday Me!

I celebrated my birthday last week. Yea me! I just got my Ipad for christmas so I didn't really want anything just a date night with my hubby. So Michael and the kids made me a cute card and we got a babysitter. We went out to eat at melting pot. It wasn't as fabulous as it has been before but good nonetheless. I haven't felt any anxiety about getting older yet, I think mostly because I've felt like I was in my 30s since I was a teenager. I'm ready to take on another year, 2012 already seems like it will have some exciting events to come...

January Classes

I had promised the boys that we could do some sort of classes in the spring, so for January and February we are driving down to Buckeye on Tuesdays to have a little fun. Josh is taking a gymnastics class and having a lot of fun just playing around on the mats. It surprises me that he listens so well during class and follows what the teacher says to do. Ethan is taking a hip-hop class. Ethan loves to dance and I want to encourage it before he gets too embarrassed to dance around. He has a lot of fun in his class, especially during freestyle time. Poor Ethan is just like me though, he dances ok when he's just moving to the music but when trying to learn specific steps he gets lost in his head.

Goodbye 2011

2011 has been a good year.  Our family certainly has been blessed.  Our biggest event of the year was the welcoming of sweet Avery into our family, she is just what I needed in life and I am enjoying getting to be a mother all over again.
We only went on a few trips this year:  San Diego and St. George over the summer, and Ft. Irwin in Nov.  But we did get to have family in town when Avery was born and for her blessing.
I enjoyed my 3 month maternity leave from work and only wish it could have been longer.  I am now back to working at Mayo and preparing to start another part time job as a clinical instructor for ASU.  Michael is still working for the IRS, and lucky for us he was able to transfer to a closer office this year and cut his commute in half.  Ethan is doing great in 1st grade and Josh attends the same preschool Ethan did a few years ago.  Overall a good year for the Barnums.

christmas 2011

The Barnum family had a wonderful Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve Eve, we took the kids to see Arthur Christmas which was really cute. The boys enjoyed it and Avery did not sit for the movie at all which was to be expected. On Christmas Eve we were home all morning while I made food and then in the evening we went to my brother Aaron's house for dinner. After we got home we read Luke 2 and talked about Savior's birth. The kids opened their Christmas pajamas, tracked Santa on the computer and excitedly got in their beds. I had told the kids we could not get up an earlier than 5am, expecting them to wake around 6 but, 4:55 in the morning we could hear them buzzing around their room. So we all went downstairs and opened our gifts and ate breakfast. We went to church and then left from their to travel up to Grandma Connie's for the rest of the day. We were exhausted by the end of the day and ready to relax.

Josh got to see Santa at his preschool party and bring home a little stocking of gifts. 

Christmas Eve in their pajamas and with stuffed bears our neighbor gave them. 

I always like to get a picture once everything is set up for the morning.  I love going to bed Christmas Eve knowing in a few hours our kids get to enjoy the magic of Christmas. 

Avery needed a few treats to keep her going early in the morning. We probably should have let her keep sleeping but I didn't want her to miss out. 

The boys played lots of games on Christmas, Josh with his new leappad and Ethan on his DS.  They also got to steal Mom's new ipad a few times to try. 

Santa Pics

I keep meaning to post this picture since we did it back in November, but haven't had a chance to blog for a while. I took the kids to see Santa just before Thanksgiving so we could beat the Christmas rush and get our requests in early with Santa. The boys are really in to Santa this year, it's so fun that they still believe he is real. Avery did ok, she started getting sad when she looked up and saw who was holding her. It was impossible to get my kids all to smile and look good for the picture, but here is the best we got.
So here are our Santa requests:
Ethan wants a dart board and ant farm, geez what an easy boy this year
Josh wants a "toucherscreener" which translates into a Leap Pad gaming system, Santa told him that electronics are harder to make so he would "try"
Avery, what she really wants is to be allowed to eat all the toilet paper she wants but she will be getting the toy that pops the little balls around with music.