Valentine's Day Weekend

So I guess I am not the greatest blogger since it's been quite a while since I've posted anything.Sorry! I really didn't feel like anything that exciting happened to me. I mean I just don't know how interesting it is to talk about how I nurse Ashtyn every three-four hours, change diapers about every two, and play cars with Joshua several times a day! lol. But here is a quick update on what's been going on at the Barkley casa. (So I said QUICK--- the stupid photo uploader is taking FOREVER!!--- no wonder I don't do this very often. Something must be wrong--it's seriously taken like 2 hours!! ahhh...i DO NOT have this kind of time!) Anyways....

JP went to Augusta, Georgia with my dad and 2 of our brothers-in-law, Mark and Zack, last weekend. My sweet Daddy asked us girls for permission to take our hubbies away on Valentine's day. We, of course, said it was fine. I mean, they were going to be back around 5 pm anyway so it's not like we would miss it all together. And plus it is pretty amazing what they got to do there anyway. They got to play Augusta National, the golf course where the Masters is held! My Dad has recently been inducted into the "club" which is pretty crazy! I think there are only 300-some odd members EVER to have been in the club. It's like a secret society or fraternity or something!  I believe his connection to Arnold Palmer, a fellow member, kinda started the whole process of him being "chosen." So anywho, that was a pretty special experience for John Paul! 

The kids and I missed him and were very excited to see him that evening. We decided to go out to eat but somewhere quick that wouldn't be too busy. So Corner Bakery it was and it was awesome! Here are some pics of our first Valentine's day as a family of four! 

Sorry Daddy, we have no pictures of you! You were a great photographer though. =) 

So what else is new with us? Let's see... hmmm... I know! Joshua always says the phrase I just typed. It is adorable! He puts his little finger to his mouth and says "Let's see...hmmm..." and then smiles real big and puts his finger in the air and says "I know!" His vocabulary is growing so fast these days. It is crazy how he is getting so big. I love him so much! My sweet little fella!

And then the Little Miss is doing a lot these days as well. Besides not sleeping through the night quite yet (grrr), she is sitting up on her own, rolling all over the place, and smiling and laughing a ton. She really is such a joy to have around. She is so sweet and calm and peaceful and happy. Joshua loves that she can sit on the floor now and play with him. He is soooo sweet to her. I love to see him love her already. I pray that they grow up the best of friends! Here are some fun pictures of them playing the other night...

You can tell they both like to ham it up for the camera. I feel so blessed to have such a sweet family! Thank you Jesus!

So confused on what to feed Ash!

Ashtyn has been acting super hungry lately and not sleeping well at night at all. I'm pretty sure my breastmilk supply is dwindling so I have been supplementing a little bit of formula and giving her rice cereal every now and then. Well lately it has seemed like I have needed to supplement even more and I just don't like where this is leading. I really want my supply to pick back up and not have to supplement. 

So I went to my chiropractor/naturopathic doctor yesterday and told him about my less than optimal breastmilk supply. He gave me some supplements and suggestions on feeding her some solids. Well now I am so confused because he basically told me exactly the opposite of what our allopathic pediatrician says. So Dr. G, the pediatrician, along with the rest of the American Medical Association, suggests starting babies on single grain cereals between 4-6 months, then introducing vegetables and fruits at six months (in that order) and then adding meat and protein foods last around 8 months. And they say NO egg until after 1 year (well some say egg yolk is ok at 8 months). 

Then yesterday Dr. Brown, my naturopath, tells me he suggests introducing egg yolk as the first food around 4-6 months. He gave me a brochure and a website address with all the research and stuff. It is www.westonaprice.org. So I have been obsessing about it all day and researching like crazy. This website says that babies don't produce hardly any amylase (enzyme needed to break down grains) until they are 2 years old! And that cereal is the worst food you could start your baby on. Then it goes on to suggest that RAW egg yolk is a great first food, then it says fruit at 6 months, followed by vegetables, and then cereal! So it is exactly the opposite! I looked at some other websites for further research and found one that says it is good to introduce cooked egg yolk at 5 months. That one is www.healthychild.com/feeding-babies/introducing-solid-foods/. Then several websites said that cooked egg yolk is ok from 6 months on and others say wait until 8 months.  So basically now I am just as confused as ever and still have a hungry baby. What the heck do I do?!?! 

Oh and by the way that first website and my naturopath also suggest adding "shaved frozen raw organic liver" to the egg yolk at 6 months. I just don't know if I can actually do that!!! It seems so disgusting but I know that liver is packed full of vitamins. So I can understand why it is so good for them. 

So confused.

Better Late than Never!

So I finally jumped on the bandwagon and started a blog. Let's see if I can actually keep it up to date with two little rugrats at home. Hmmm.... where to start. I guess I will start at the beginning, that is 9 years ago when John Paul and I became John Paul and I. I know for the most of the people reading this, it will all be review but since I feel like there needs to be a beginning, I am going to post it anyway. So sit back relax and read...

I guess I actually need to back up even further.  When I was four... don't panic... I will try to make it snappy...my family visited a church for the first time. Who would've ever thought the man I was to marry was sitting in the front row. He was the Pastor's son and six years my senior, so for a loooooong time he was interested in my beautiful older sisters and not the little girl with the gruff voice.  And of course I was too busy being four to notice him either. But when John Paul was 18 (that makes me 12) he started working on my parents' seven acre property as the property manager. This was not the typical "property manager" job. One of his many odd-end duties was taking me and picking me up from school. Lucky me. =) So we ended up spending a lot of time together and becoming really great friends! At some point during the next few years, I fell head over heals in love with him and knew I was going to marry him. I just needed him to wait for me to grow up. He was a bit leery to feel anything towards me because of the age gap, but I started to pursue him and those who know me know that I have a way of getting what I want when I want it. ;) So we did end up waiting but not for long! 

Nine years ago on April 5th John Paul and I started dating. I was 15. He was 21. As you can imagine, it was a bit taboo and we faced some major disapproval by anyone and everyone. Well almost everyone. Thankfully, our parents and close friends had our backs. So a 2 year whirlwind romance led to a beautiful wedding on May 11, 2002. Yes, I was 17 when we got hitched! I can't find my cd of all my wedding photos so we had to go grab one from a website and all they have is a thumbnail. So sorry it is small!

As you can see, I tend to do things fast. I would have been thrilled to get pregnant soon after our wedding but my wise husband insisted we wait. And boy am I glad we did. We both were able to finish our undergraduate degrees, and John Paul started a great job working for my parent's charitable foundation, which is still his employer. Not to mention, we got to be footloose and fancy free for a little while.  Here is a picture of us on a date during that carefree time in our lives!

So we ended up waiting 3 years before we started trying to conceive. Got pregnant right away but unfortunately lost our first little baby at 13 weeks gestation. Thank God though, we were able to get pregnant about 8 months later, and we welcomed our precious baby boy, Joshua Preston, into the world on December 26, 2006. He is so much fun and such a sweet kid! He just turned two a month ago tomorrow. Wow has time flown. Here he is eating chocolate covered raisins and sneaking licks of the cupcakes at his birthday party-- by the way that tired look is an illusion-- the child WOULD NOT nap that day after such a fun party (the sugar high didn't help)!

                                     

Almost exactly twenty months later, our little surprise, Ashtyn Mae, was born on August 25, 2008. She is so beautiful and good-natured. We love having her in our family. She turned 5 months old today. I really can't believe how fast she is growing up! Here she is today in her sassy new bow and headband! She just woke up from her nap so she is a little dazed.  

And here is one of the two of them on Christmas Eve last year. So sweet. Josh is such a good brother and you can already tell that sister thinks the world of him!

   

I just noticed while searching my iPhoto that almost a whole month went by with NO pictures of them!! Bad mommy! Hopefully this blog will help me remember to take pictures of my sweet kiddos. I don't want to be left with only my memories of this precious time in their lives. Okay, I think that is enough for now.