Catch up time again?!

I think I'll just become a quarterly blogger.  That should be enough!

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Here's our trip to Angel Fire in pictures.  It didn't start out so fun.  I had a really bad feeling about this trip before we even starting packing.  So bad...I didn't even want to go.  That's not normal for me.   I'm not one to get "bad feelings."  I worry, but usually about nothing.  This wasn't the same thing.  This was a BAD feeling.  I think my first fear was that this was the first time we had ever gone to a mountain biking race for Aaron and no one else went with us.  No grandparents. No friends. No Uncle Gary.  People at work and all of our parents were praying for us and our trip.  And...thank you God for listening to the prayers of so many. 

Our trip started out bright and early as normal.  We all piled into the truck with the camper loaded and everyone dressed in "comfy clothes."  And we were off.  Bad feeling still there.  The trip was going great.  Then...a rock hit the windshield and it automatically ran.  Not a crisis!  The closer we got to Angel Fire the more I was relaxing.  And then...we ran into a hail storm.  Not a little one.  Golf ball size hail - in the middle of an open field - pull off the road and wait for 20 min so we can see kinda hail.  Once it let up, we decided to get on our way.  Next obstacle...10 foot wide rushing water across the road.  Is it deep? Where's the road? Do we wait?!  Luckily another vehicle drove through and Aaron decided we could make.  And...we did!  Next...we continued on and started up through the mountain pass.  Remember that hail?  Well...it was all over the road.  ICE.  Truck.  Camper.  Incline.  Mountain side.  BAD NEWS!!!  We lost traction and the wheels were just spinning.  Luckily Aaron is cool under pressure.  Even as the camper started sliding toward the guard rail he just put the truck into 4 wheel drive and slowly tried to ease toward the middle of the road.  After about 20 min we were able to get going AGAIN!!!

We FINALLY made it to Angel Fire.  We assessed the hail damage to the truck and the camper.  The skylights in the camper were busted out leaving our beds a little wet.  But...it's amazing what trash bags and duct tape can fix!  I really thought that was the end of my bad feelings.

The next day we woke up and took Aaron up the mountain to ride.  First run down he crashed and was hurt bad enough to bow out of the race.  Despite the bad news...I felt a sense of relief.  We ended up having a great time hiking and watching the mountain bike races from the sideline.  And Aaron got to feeling better after a few days and he was able to ride again.  Lots of answered prayers on this trip.  So glad we made it home safely with nothing more than a few bumps and scrapes.

Let's Play Catch Up

Where do I begin?!  

It's been 9 months since I've updated this blog.  

Does anybody actually look at it anyhow?!  

October: So...Adam's finger healed up great without surgery.  Dr. Cooke followed up with him and Adam loves showing off his scar.  He has pretty much normal movement but still can't bend it quite as far as the others.  After the finger incident he stayed in a half cast for about 4 weeks and that was all.  Getting the stitches out was NOT fun!  We also pulled off a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom.  Well...Leah did.  I just avoided talking to her.  I'm a horrible liar.  

In November, a very special little girl turned 4!  We had a very low key Cinderella birthday party.  I thought this might limited the number of presents.  Boy was I wrong!!!  Grandparents and Auntie Leah didn't hold back!  Reagan got a new big girl bike in Cinderella blue, a Cinderella dress, castle, movie, and barbie.  Of course we have now moved onto Aurora.  Go figure!  

December is ALWAYS a fun month around our family.  There are a million things going on.  We started off with a bang!  Granny took us to see ICE! at the Gaylord and we went for a ride on the Polar Express.  Fun and crazy wild weekend.  Then there was the Sisters' party at Granny's house.  And, of course, Christmas.  Always a busy time.  

In January Aaron and I celebrated 7 years of marriage and the kids started gymnastics.  More fun times!!! Aaron also really buckled down and started studying for the fire department's lieutenants test.  Our life kinda slowed down when this happened!

February brought more studying.  Aaron needed full access to the kitchen table, bar, couch, and kitchen.  So...the kids and I moved our home lives into the master bed room.  It was kinda like a little party in there every day!  Toys everywhere and snacks in the bed room!  Can't believe that happened!  We did pause for a little valentine's day fun when Auntie Leah sent some new Thomas trains and little pets.

March brought warmer weather and more outside time.  The kids competed in their first mountain biking "race."  They did a great job and I got to play the proud mommy! We had everybody over for Easter at our house and hunted Easter eggs at home and participated in the Baird Easter festivities.  

Greatest event in April was our trip to see Thomas in Grapevine.  Granny and Opa took all of their kids (Me and Auntie Leah included) out for the weekend to see Thomas in Grapevine.  The kids were excited and very surprised. 

Then it was May.  We celebrated Adam's 3rd birthday complete with an over the top Cars Party.  Thank you Pinterest!  We celebrated Mother's Day very low key.  Loved it!  Got to be lazy all day and just relax! Again...Loved it!   We also celebrated with my cousin who is getting married.  Went to Houston for a long weekend for her wedding shower and some other fun.  We went to the zoo, the aquarium, and the children's museum.  The children's museum is the BEST PLACE EVER!  Hands down.  If you have kids, are near/in Houston.  It's a MUST!!!  Then we celebrated Aaron's 32nd Birthday!!!  We all got together and ate at Lytle Land for some great food! And...Granny made a yummy pineapple upside down cake!  Aaron got a fun present from the whole family.  Not sure if I was more excited or if he was.  He got a bar bell and a set of bumper plates.  Of course, he's already had to add to it! =)

June was another fun month.  We had some great friends that got married in a beautiful backyard wedding.  Aaron and I got to be the dog handlers.  Who lost the ring?  This girl's dog!  Go figure!  We took our annual trip to Angel Fire, NM for Aaron to race.  That trip is a whole other blog post to come...eventually.  Then we joined in celebrating another wedding with my cousin.  Photo booth...worth the money!  Good job guys!  And then of course there is Father's Day.  Opa was in Canada catching fish so we took Aaron and Papa to Red Lobster to eat fish and...maybe a few amazing cheddar bay biscuits!  YUM!!!  Then it was Auntie Leah's birthday but she was in Michigan.  So we didn't even get cake!

Now here we are in July.  We had the opportunity to celebrate July 4th with Granny and Opa and the entire Trigger Mountain Community at a 4th of July party.  It was pretty overwhelming the number of people that came.  The kids were a little terrified!  But, when the ice cream came out...they perked up!  

That should about do it!  Here's some pictures!

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Tough Guy

I always knew our family was accident prone.  But...I think Adam is taking the prize for most trips to the ER.  This trip was for a lost fight with a candle.  Yes...a candle.  Not just any candle.  A candle the size of an oxygen tank.  The tall ones.  We didn't see it happen, but we heard the crash, heard a scream, and then saw the bloody aftermath.  The candle apparently fell onto his finger and crushed it on the concrete floor below.  We quickly packed up and headed to Brownwood Regional since it was the closest.  Once we got there, they got us back REALLY fast.  The nurses were WONDERFUL.  They did x-rays, got his hand bandaged, and got IVs started with antibiotics and pain medication.  X-rays were obvious that all 3 phalanx were fractured longitudinally.  The middle phalanx took the worst hit and appears to be a crush injury with many little pieces. We asked if we could go to Hendrick to be closer to home and our doctors.  So, they called ahead and found out that no surgeon in Abilene would touch a crush injury on that little hand.  So...next stop...Cook Children's in Fort Worth.  And...we had to go by ambulance.  Or as Adam said: "we're riding in the firetruck."  Again...our ambulance crew was great to me and Adam.  About 2.5 hours later we arrived at Cooks.  Being there made me realize how, in the grand scheme of things, this crushed finger was a small problem.  Seeing so many children in the ER was heart breaking.  But...they jumped right in and checked Adam out.  EVERYONE there was great.  We had great nurses, great techs, great doctor, and a great child life specialist that came through with an iPad at the perfect time.  No surgery like we thought we were going for...the doctor was more worried about infection than the fracture at this time.  So...after they calmed me down regarding our long trip (that will be made again on Monday) they explained that there was too much swelling, tissue damage, and risk of infection for surgery at that time.  They flushed out the wound and closed it up with 5 sutures that kinda helped it look like a finger again.  They rewrapped and placed a splint on his fingers and wrist to keep him from moving.  They also placed a sling on him, but that didn't last long!  This whole process started at noon and we left the hospital at 11:30pm.  We stopped and dropped off 2 prescriptions and then went to eat with the family at iHop.  Aaron and I hadn't eaten since breakfast so 24 hour iHop was the greatest tasting food we'd ever had.  Adam slept through the whole thing.  When we finally headed home we hit a crazy thunderstorm with high winds and hail.  After that it was smooth sailing.  We got home at 3 am and snuggled on the couch until we woke up at 9am this morning.  Yesterday was LONG but we made it through.  So thankful for Granny, Opa, Nana, Papa, Auntie Leah, Bobby, and Reagan.  They were all right there through the whole thing to love on Adam and help us with whatever we needed.  Reagan was very concerned about her sweet Bubba, as well as her own mosquito bites.  So...they found a "doctor" to check her out, prescribe a bandaid, and put her little mind at ease.  Everyone seems to feel ok this morning.  Adam is still hurting and getting pain medication every 4 hours, but he's just as wild as always.  Hard to keep that boy down.  Thanks for all the prayers and please keep them coming.  I'll give an update after our visit to the doctor tomorrow.

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Silly Little Pumpkins

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I could live here

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Like my Daddy...

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Zoo Day

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Hats off to you

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On two wheels

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Happy 2nd Anniversary of your 30th Birthday!

I am horrible at surprises.  However, I thought I'd give it a try for Aaron's Birthday.  Result...Failed!  I failed at the surprise part, but I think everyone had a good time.

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Huntin' Frogs

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Spring TIme Fun

Well...I'm not very good at keeping up with this thing.  I just don't have the patience or, quite frankly, the time.  But...here's a little update in pictures!

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Happy 2nd Birthday Buddy!

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Welcome back Mac!

I know... it's been a while.
Here's my list of excuses:
1. My computer crashed and my pictures are in NO order whatsoever and it's driving me crazy!
2. I wake up at 4:30 am to work out, work full time, live 30 min out of town, and have 2 crazy kids that are 1.5 and 3 years old.  So...by the time I get home, cook dinner, and get kids to bed...I'm exhausted!!!  I'd rather fall asleep in bed than on the computer!
3. I like spending time with my husband and he does not like blogging.
4. We've had on crazy year and it all started right before I quit blogging...hence the pause.
5. And...I'm a perfectionist.  It has to have a theme, have the perfect pictures, and a catchy title.  This is probably my greatest downfall.  So...I quit trying to be perfect and just be me!

I know my blog is not life changing and rarely are there any great words of wisdom or insight.  It's mainly my way of scrapbooking and sharing pictures with my few family and friends that read this.

So...get ready...here are major events since last year...
June: We started out in Angel Fire and then spent a lot of our month going back and forth between our house and my parents.  They started build their house and the kids spent some time out there since Ms. Cindye was closed for the summer.  Reagan and Adam got their fill of riding the mule, catching bugs, and throwing rocks.  I think their motto was "No shoes, No shirt, and a popsicle please."  When they weren't at Granny and Opa's house...they had the same motto at Nana and Papa's.  Love my little country kids.

July:  We started July off with a bang.  On July 4th, right before bed time Adam fell into the fireplace and bit through his bottom lip.  We had an unplanned trip to the ER and a plastic surgery consult.  When we went back for the 2nd surgery and the doctor said his lip looked great and no surgery was needed.  Praise the Lord!!!  I turned 30 on July 11th and LOVE my 30th year of life!  I couldn't ask for more.  I have the "perfect" little family, I live in the country, love my job, and I'm in the best shape that I have EVER been in.  Who knew 30 would be this great?!   Being the summer...we spent MORE time at grandparents houses and at the lake.  Unfortunately lake time was limited by the drought and low water levels.

August:  Fairly uneventful.  Thank goodness!  We had the Fire Department picnic and it actually RAINED that day.  It was the first good rain in a while.  The kids LOVED the water puddles. August also meant back to school at Ms. Cindye's and back into a routine.  However, before early mornings returned...Reagan and Aaron went on their first official Daddy/Daughter date to see Cars 2.  They started at Chik-fil-a and then headed to the movies.  And, in true Rachael fashion, Reagan fell asleep!  She is her Mommy's child!

September:  Due to crazy dry weather September was a rough month.  The fires down in Bastrop were national news.  Abilene volunteered to send out a strike team.  And, of course, Aaron was first in line.  He had turned down the first opportunity secondary to my surgery in May, but this time he felt he should go.  He was gone for about 10 days to help fight fires.  The kids and I were on our own.  We were fine, of course.  We were surrounded by friends and family and everyone was willing to help out where needed.  Military wives are my official heros!  To keep occupied while Aaron was gone...Sandy and I organized a food and clothing drive for the families and firefighters that were affected by the fires. Our small drive exploded!  We filled an 8 foot trailer FULL of items to take.  God is truly amazing in the ways he works!

October: Always a busy month with the fire department and the Guns 'n' Hoses bike race.  Adam went back into the hospital after being diagnosed with a severe case of croup.  We didn't even stop at admissions.  They sent us straight up to pediatrics for a breathing treatment and went spent 3 days in the tent.  We told Granny Happy Birthday and then there was Halloween.  We actually went trick ore treating for the first time and the kids LOVED it.  They refused to wear costumes but they liked getting candy!

November: We celebrated Reagan's 3rd Birthday Pinkalicious style.  It was a REALLY pink party.  The little girls dressed up in pink wings and crowns and had pink wands while the boys wore masks and swords.  The house was FULL of all aged kids and it was a party to remember.  Complete with pinkalicious style cupcakes.  Reagan graduated to a big girl bed complete with fancy bedding from grandparents and parents.  And then there was Thanksgiving...More food!

December:  Always full of Christmas fun with LOTS of family.  My favorite part of Christmas this year was taking the kids to candle light service at church.  They were wonderful through the service and in awe of the candles.  What a blessing to be able to raise kids in that environment surrounded by family.  I'm pretty sure their favorite part of Christmas was getting their Arctic Cat Powerwheels.  Better than watching a movie!

January:  Aaron and I celebrated 6 years of marriage.  Doesn't really seem like it's been 6 years.  Another blessing.  Our day started out with a killer WOD designed just for Aaron and I.  It was a killer!  Then we went to lunch with all the guys.  Me and all the guys...interesting lunch conversations!  Later that night we had reservations at Bonterra Blu in Clyde and enjoyed the night.  The food was AMAZING!!!  If you live anywhere in driving distance of Clyde you should eat here.  The food is SPECTACULAR!!!

February: My dad turned 60!  While we planned on attending the party that had been in the making...we all opted to stay home with sinus infections, bladder infection, ear infections, and pink eye.  Oh happy day. Valentine's Day is typically uneventful at our house.  And we stuck with tradition.  However, I did accept the gift of a new jump rope and weight lifting shoes.  Just an excuse to justify spending the money.  We actually did have a late V-day date with some friends.  We went to see STOMP!  Live in Abilene!  It was a great night!

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And here we are in March...

I know most people didn't make it this far and I don't blame you.  Our life is not that interesting.  It's all about kids and work and crossfit.  However, we are lucky in that they all cross over at some point and intertwine.  So...I will try to add pictures and update more often without the perfectionistic tendencies that hold me back!

New Mexico Trip - May 2011

1st Haircut

It started off as a fun little trip to get a hair cut and quickly turned into a sad, crying affair.  We had an audience of people trying to entertain Adam and make him laugh as he got his haircut.  But...no luck.  He didn't like sitting still, didn't like the drape, and wasn't real fond of the water being sprayed in his spikey little hair!  He sure was a handsome little guy in the end! 

CrossFit Champ 2030

I guess what you do as a parent REALLY DOES rub off on your children.  Reagan has recently started asking to do push ups and burpees!  And frequently shows us how to squat saying: "Like this guys." And...in all reality she probably performs a better squat than most adults! 

So under careful supervision of her own personal CrossFit Benedictus coach she has been working on perfecting her squats and push ups and even getting in some hand stand push ups.

So CrossFit games 2030...Watch out!!!  She's on her way!

The Box

One man's trash is a little girl's treasure...

And...yes...our living room WAS that messy!

Happy 1st Birthday!

One year ago we were introduced to our favorite little boy!  He is full of life and always on the move.  

Here's a little glimpse of Adam at 12 months:

weight: 21 lbs. (25th percentile)

height: 30 inches (50th percentile)

head: 18 3/4 inches (80th percentile)

Size 12 month clothing

Size 2-3 shoes

You have 2 teeth and the 2nd one JUST came in.

However, you eat EVERYthing!

Your favorite foods: chicken, green beans, oranges, bananas, fruit snacks, black beans, cheese, cake, corn dogs, hot dogs, tomatoes, apple sauce, yogurt, milk, apple juice

You don't like: macaroni and cheese, rice, baby food (anything pureed)

You are not quite walking but I attribute that to your multiple and ongoing ear infections.

You just got tubes in your ears to help with your ear infections.

You love to play with your walking dinosaur and anything else that has wheels.

You love to throw all of the balls out of the wagon and toss them around the house.

You love to splash in the bathtub.

You love being outside, but it's really rough on your sensitive skin.

You hate to sit still when getting your diaper changed or your nails trimmed.

You like computers, remotes, and telephones.  Basically, anything with buttons.

You no longer drink out of a bottle, but the pacifier remains a must!

You are a great little guy with a wonderful smile and contagious laugh!  You are full of fun and full of life.  We are so fortunate that God has placed you in our lives.  You are a blessing!

Happy Easter

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter with friends and family!  Here's a little preview into the Barr family fun.  

While we normally head for church Easter morning...the stomach bug had other plans for our family!  It started with Adam and Reagan the week before and hit me Easter morning.  By that evening Opa was sharing in the fun.  And a few days later...it hit Aaron.  Somewhere in there it also got Nana and Papa.  Amazingly...Granny & Leah walked away untouched!  All in all we had a great day with the kids and the rest of the family.