September Photo Album

Wow September has really flown by. I thought school was going to make time slow down. Well Lexi is now 4 months old and Leila had her 2nd birthday this month. This post will make up for all the posts I've added without pictures.

Here is Lexi. She smiles all the time and is such a lovely baby. She is very low maintenance just like Leila was and it's a hug blessing. She also sucks her thumb which is good during the night. I'm not sure when I should stop her but right now we are both enjoying it.








This is Aubrey outside of the Mount Timpanogos Temple. We were there for a friend's sealing and got to hear Joseph F McKonkie seal the couple it was very good and I am happy to announce that we got to sit on the front row for the sealing because we are full tithe payers (jk it was a joke the sealer gave).

Next, We bought a truck with some insurance money (more on that later, notice our carport is not up any more). Aubrey really wanted a truck and we've needed one for all the projects we've been working on so we kept checking ksl and found this beauty. It's in very good condition. It's a 96 Chevy silverado with 107k miles on it. I'm trying to convince Aubrey to let me put a transformers decal on it. That would be sick!!!






Then we had Leila's second birthday. It was a lot of fun and yes I did go over board on the cake. I made 72 cupcakes for this baby. Other kids do like TV characters and stuff but Leila doens't know any of them so I replicated her favorite "Pinky Bear." We had a ton left over after her party but I took them to school the next day and they were put to good use.


These are all pictures of family members that came to Leila's party. Sorry I left some of you out due to lack of pictures or the quality of the pictures. This is my mom, Lexi and my Favorite Aunt Teresa.

This is Grandpa Barker, Uncle Ali, and Lexi. See any family resemblance?


Leila and uncle Alex.

Leila and Aunt Shellie.

Almost my favorite picture on this post. Leila with her cousins Logan and Anna or Doku and Annnaa as Leila calls them.

Princess Leila decked out in some bling that Anna gave her. Thanks Anna!


Uncle Andrew and Aunt Karlee with Leila.

Aunt Carlee and Uncle Trevor with Leila.

These are just some shots from this month.

Lexi and Grandpa Barker. Again any resemblance? Some say she looks just like him.

My baby girls!!!!! Love them!!!!!!

Yes this is Leila sleeping. hahah Weird I know.

Hope you enjoyed this post it took me forever to put all these pictures on!
Also check out my other blog here.

Teenage Dream

This song was written about ME and AUBREY!

You think I'm pretty (Aubrey had a thing for cheerleaders)
Without any make-up on
You think I'm funny
When I tell the punch line wrong
I know you get me (He knows me better than I know myself)
So I'll let my walls come down, down

Before you met me
I was a wreck
But things were kinda heavy (Aubrey helped me with much needed missionary work with a good friend)
You brought me to life (We became a couple)
Now every February
You'll be my valentine, valentine (Shortly after V-day he told me he loved me)

Let's go all the way tonight (Meaning marriage {No fornication here})
No regrets, just love (We were engaged.....)
We can dance until we die (The night of my senior prom)
You and I
We'll be young forever (I was 17)

You make me
Feel like
I'm living a Teenage Dream (I found my RM)
The way you turn me on
I can't sleep (Really I can't sleep when he's not there)
Let's runaway
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back

My heart stops
When you look at me
Just one touch
Now baby I believe
This is real
So take a chance
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back

We drove to Cali (On our honey moon)
And got drunk on the beach (I got stung my a sting ray and was offered alcohol)
Got a motel and (................)
Built a fort out of sheets
I finally found you
My missing puzzle piece
I'm complete (Seriously, he's my eternal companion)

Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I
We'll be young forever

You make me
Feel like
I'm living a Teenage Dream
The way you turn me on
I can't sleep
Let's runaway
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back

My heart stops
When you look at me
Just one touch
Now baby I believe
This is real
So take a chance
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back

I might get your heart racing
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

Let you put your hands on me
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

You make me
Feel like
I'm living a Teenage Dream
The way you turn me on
I can't sleep
Let's runaway
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back

My heart stops
When you look at me
Just one touch
Now baby I believe
This is real
So take a chance
And don't ever look back
Don't ever look back

School!

Things that make me wish time went by faster.

1. School. I have 3 more semesters. I will officially finish my bachelors this fall but won't graduate until I finish the teaching program in December of 2011. It really feels like it's just around the corner..... but then again, today was the first day of school.

2. Roxy. I wish Roxy was home already. I know she is doing the Lord's work and serving the people of TX but I miss her so much! Out of the 8 kids, we are the closest in age at 15 months apart. She has Sept, Oct, and then she'll return in November! Whoot Whoot. Fly time fly.

Things that make me wish time went by slow.

1. Kids. Leila will be 2 years old next month and I can't believe it. I remember the semester I told my mom I was pregnant. We took a bowling class together. Lexi is 3 months old today. I love that they learn so much but I hate that they get bigger. Seriously.... you blink and they're a month older.

2. Special Service Missionaries. I LOVE all the SSMs in my ward. They are all such loving people and I ALWAYS feel like I've known them longer than I really have. Then all the sudden they say they are going home. Their presence makes time fly. Not fair. Time needs to freeze.

I'm so grateful for all the above mentioned things in my life including the hubs. Everything is just going so well and I can't give credit anywhere else besides to my Father in Heaven. He knows me and wants me to succeed. I love HIM!

p.s. Can't talk about the kids without posting some pictures.


And, since I have the pictures I have to compare the little kiddos since they too are all growing up so fast.

March 2010:

July 2010:
Love you all!

Gallbladder Follow Up!

Sorry this may be a long post but I will try to write everything as accurate as possible for journaling purposes.

July 5th: 1:30 a.m. I woke up with real bad back pain. Why? Well from sleeping outside on the ground... I thought. We camped out in my parent's back yard for the 4th. Well I went inside with Lexi and decided to sleep in the couch. Luckily, I was able to get a few hours of sleep but woke up at 5:00 a.m. I could sleep any longer so I decided to watch t.v. I noticed that I could not slouch at all or breath deeply. I just kept thinking that I must have done something bad to my back. By this time I couldn't sleep on my side back or stomach. I just had to sit up. Alex my little brother asked if I wanted a Priesthood blessing. It's a good thing he asked because I don't think I would have asked. (Still working on asking when I know I should.) Aubrey put the oil on my head and Trevor my older brother gave me the blessing. After, I took some Tylenol and I tried taking a hot bath but that didn't do much. I was stuck in a very straight up uncomfortable position. The family planned to go boating that morning but I decided that we wouldn't go. I really wanted to but how was I supposed to enjoy it? So Aubrey and I went home. I tried lying on a heating pad with my back down. I touched my stomach. Ouch! I knew something was wrong. We decided to go to So. Ogden's Instacare. I fed Lexi while waiting. Having 8 pounds in my arms held close to my chest hurt really badly too. Note* While waiting in the lobby to be called, a lady sitting near by said, "I've gone through the same thing as you. It was my gallbladder. I had it removed and now I'm just fine." Weird.
Anyway, the pain was getting worse. All you women out there that have experienced contractions.... times this by 10 and don't let it take a break. Contractions go on for a minute then release. Not this. I was almost in tears because I could not get comfortable but most of all I was scared. I had no idea what the pain was and the nurse happened to ask if I got an epidural with this delivery. I said yes and then thought of all the side effects an epidural might have. Maybe the dummy got the needle into my gall bladder. Anyway back to thinking about all the things that could go wrong the doctor came in and told me to change. I peed in a cup and then came back to lie on my back as directed. The doctor felt my stomach. OUCH!!!! I about burst into tears. He touched my gallbladder and it hurt bad. He said that my white blood cell count in the urine was high. The pain was subsiding and I was able to breath a little more deeply now. He scheduled an ultrasound for my gallbladder.
At McKay Dee I had an ultrasound done and it hurt too. Okay it was uncomfortable, I wasn't crying but still I didn't like having pain that I couldn't identify. The tech finished the ultrasound and called the doctor. Result: My gallbladder was a little inflamed. Not bad, it could have been a lot worse by having gall stones in there. I should have done this first. Go here to see what exactly your gallbladder is for.
July 7th: I had a follow up appt. to talk about the ultrasound. Aubrey and I had been reading up online and found that .5 million people get their gallbladder removed every year. So I thought, I'm probably going to be one of those people.
July 13th: Had a HIDA Scan done. It is a procedure to check the function of the gallbladder. I had to pump and dump my breast milk because of the radioactive chemical they injected into my arm. To know more about a HIDA scan go here. McKay Dee performed 2 to 5 HIDA scan a day and usually finds something wrong. The procedure takes about an hour. I would get my results back in a couple days.
By this time I am just dying to know what is going on. I had been following a low fat low cholesterol diet and I was determined to follow it for the rest of my life just so that pain would never come back. I wasn't going to put myself through a non stop contraction if I wasn't going to get a baby for it. Plus, Aubrey and Leila hadn't had a home cooked meal since I hadn't learned how to make a low fat low cholesterol meal yet. There are lots of different reason one can have a gallbladder attack and I didn't know what the cause was. My guesses out of the possible reason.... Being female, having just had a baby, my age, or...... milk, hot dogs, and cheese are my weakness. I was mad that this was happening to me because I try hard to take care of my body by exercising and not eating out of control.
July 15th: Got a call from the nurse with my HIDA scan results. NORMAL. What? Seriously? I beat the odds. Not to mention I wasn't going to become one of 500,000 people a year. I felt so good about this. My thoughts were turned back to something Trevor mentioned in my blessing. I can't quote it but I do remember him saying THINGS IN YOUR BODY WILL RE ALIGN. wow! This is very special because in the research I did, I read that whatever damage has been done to your gallbladder is irreversible hence, people get it removed. I was and am grateful to my Father in Heaven for this and I spent time on my knees showing my gratitude. It has been a wake up call to eat better and to feed my family better even though that may not have even been the cause. For most people it is and I don’t want to be part of the reason that happens to someone else. So things are going good and sorry there are no pictures in this post. Until next time…..

Gallbladder Fun!

Shortest post to date... I had a gallbladder attack today. Details to come, maybe.

Again, I've found something fun to do on my blog from someone else's. Enjoy!

1. the most recent picture of yourself.

2. A picture you took to prove your innocence!

3. A picture you photo shopped.

4. A picture you took on your cell phone.

5. A picture of a wound you received.

6.A childhood memory.

7. Something that you have way too many of but still wouldn't mind having more!

8. A photo of you that was professionally taken.

9.A picture of a haircut you hated!

10.A photo of a haircut you loved!

11.A picture of you and someone you love.

12.A picture of your feet!

13.A room in your home.

14.A picture of the happiest moment you've had up to date.

15.A picture taken on a vacation you will never forget.

16.A picture taken before everything was about to change.

17.Something that makes you laugh but not everyone would understand.

18.A picture of something adorable!

19. A picture of you & your best friend.

20.A picture you like and have no idea why!

If you read this, consider yourself tagged and do it on your own blog.